To Love A Monster
by romancequeen01
Summary: Sakura was promised to the Akatuski at birth, now The Akatuski are after her, what will happen when Sakura has attracted the affection of Gaara. Will he protect her or will the Akatuski get her! Mainly SakuXGaar; Slight SakuXIta; SakuXDeid; SakuXSasu
1. Leaf v Sand

Chapter One

Leaf -vs- Sand

Rock Lee and Gaara fight to the death!

The chunin exams were into the third phase where the students were matched up against other students and were to fight to the death or until one student can no longer battle. Sakura had already competed in this stage of the exams against Ino, they were both deemed unfit to continue. The next two to battle were Rock Lee and Gaara.

Sakura was very nervous, she had heard rumors about how Gaara was a ruthless murderer but had never seen him battle for herself. Although she didn't have romantic feelings for Lee she did care a lot for him. He had saved her life for one thing.

The battle was ready to begin. Lee automatically attacked with ti jutsu. None of his attacks however made it through Gaara's defensive sand. Sakura stood watching,

_"Even as fast as he is Lee can't get anywhere close to him."_

On the other side of the balcony Naruto stood beside Gaara's brother Kankuro. Naruto exclaimed,

_"The sand! He's using it as a shield!"_

Kankuro replied,

_"He's not doing it; the sand is protecting him of its own accord. It's almost like a living thing it will come to Gaara's defense without his doing anything. That's why Gaara's never been injured, no one can get at him."_

In his mind he continued,

_'no one's even been able to touch him.'_

Sakura wondered aloud to herself,

_"I don't get it, he's only using ti jutsu, can't he see that's never going to work. Why doesn't he get some distance and use nin jutsu?"_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Gui Sensei, Lee's teacher,

_"Yes that might be a good idea...that is if he had any. Lee has no nin justu or gen justu skills at all."_

Sakura gasps while adding,

_"You're kidding?"_

Gui laughed slightly before continuing,

_"That's nothing; you should have seen how hopeless he was when I first met him. No talent what so ever."_

Sakura stood in shock,

_"Really? I can't believe it."_

The match continued Lee was almost crushed by Gaara's sand defense, but nearly avoided death by jumping clean across the room on top of a statue. Gui continued,

_"A ninja who can do no nin justu or gen justu is certainly a rarity, Lee has only his ti justu to rely on, some may consider that a disadvantage. But that's what makes him a winner."_

He paused for a moment before sticking his thumb out,

_"Alright Lee take em off!"_

Lee sat stunned for a moment before stating,

_"But Gui Sensei, you said that was only as a last resort when the lives of very important people were at stake?"_

Gui answered happily,

_"That's right I did but this is an exception!"_

Lee's facial expression went immediately to a huge grin.

_"Really? Really?"_

He pulled down his leg warmers and took off...ankle weights!

Kakashi sensei thought to himself,

_'Light weights? Basic training equipment'_

Naruto yelled,

_"Totally cool!"_

Kankuro chimed in,

_"Totally lame."_

Lee stood up and sighed in relief,

_"Ah that is better now I will be able to move freely!"_

Just as he dropped the weights, Gaara's sister Temri thought to herself,

_'Come on you really think you're going to get through Gaara's defenses just by dropping a couple of pounds of weight?'_

And with that the weights crashed to the ground smashing up the concrete, creating a huge explosion of dust! Everyone sat there stunned while Kakashi thought,

_'Gui you are too much.'_

And with that Lee was off moving so fast you could barely see him! Delivering kicks and punches which made it partial through Gaara's sand defense. Gui exclaimed,

_"I could see Lee had no aptitude for nin justu or gen justu so we skipped them, and focused all his energy into developing his ti justu. That way we turned his disadvantage into a blessing! Now he doesn't need those other things to win, because he's transformed himself into the world's greatest ti justu specialist!"_

And with that Lee jumped above Gaara and smashed his feet onto Gaara's head! Everyone gasped especially Temari and Kankuro. At that point Lee was running around Gaara joking around, he was in one place then another, until he punched Gaara in the face sending him tumbling to the floor. When Gaara came to his feet his face was literally falling off! But it wasn't his face it was...sand! Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on for a while Lee figured out his next move. Lee started running around Gaara then kicked his chin lifting him off the ground, and continued delivering a series of kicks to the chest, lifting him further and further off the ground. Lee got behind him, wrapped his tapings from his arms around Gaara, tying his arms to his body, before grabbing him from behind and spinning them both head first into the ground! Lee nearly escaped the head first blow, and stood catching his breath. Sakura was so exciting for Lee,

_"YA! You did it! Way to go Lee!"_

By her outburst you would think that she cared for Lee, but actually she was just so relieved that he didn't get killed! Everyone looked more closely and noticed that Gaara's body was caving in! It had become sand! Gaara switched himself with a sand body while Lee was delivering those series of kicks. Everyone stood in disbelief, just staring. Lee was trying to understand everything, catching his breath when all of a sudden Gaara appeared behind him in a casing of sand; his laugh was so evil it was almost unbearable to watch. Gaara made a hand symbol under his chin which sent a wave of sand crashing into Lee, knocking him to the ground. Then creating a bigger wave crashing it into Lee again, crashing him into the wall! Everyone watched in horror at the scene in front of them. Gaara delivered his last blow of sand. Waiting for the dust to clear everyone was standing on edge. Lee sat there after the dust cleared bracing himself for the impact. The sand smashed into him, he screamed in pain! But that wasn't the end; Gaara gave him one more blow of sand knocking him clear across the room! Lee laid there in so much pain, he could barely move. Sakura yelled,

_"He can't go on! Make him quit before he gets himself killed!"_

Lee all of a sudden got a rush of energy; he started jumping around dodging the sand attacks. Kakashi and Gui were talking about Lee being able to open inner gates, Sakura had no idea what they were talking about, she just wanted this match to be over! All of a sudden there was a swarm of wind encircling Lee. The wind turned into traces of blue, Lee's face was turning red! Everything was just rushing around him! A green ora outlined Lee's body, along with the blue streaks rushing in the wind around him! The ground beneath him started to break apart with pieces swirling around in the wind. Lee was screaming! His veins were exploding off of his face! This was crazy! Sakura stood in disbelief, this can't be real! All of a sudden Lee sprinted across the room basically unseen and kicked Gaara under the chin. Creating a world wind of dust, once the dust cleared no one could find Lee or Gaara! Until they looked up. Gaara laid in midair until Lee delivered a series of blows knocking Gaara around the room like a ping pong ball! Lee smashed Gaara so hard into the ground that it basically shattered! There was so much dust! It took so long for it to clear! Sakura held her breath before asking,

_"Is it over?"_

The dust cleared and everyone saw Lee lying on the ground, attempting to catch his breath. But Gaara was lying on the ground in a semi ball of sand. He shakily raised his hand toward Lee, moving his sand towards him. Lee was so weak! He could barely move, he tried so hard to crawl away but did not succeed. The sand grabbed hold of Lee's left leg and arm, instantly crushing them once Gaara closed his hand into a fist! Lee's scream was heart breaking for Sakura, she couldn't believe that this match got this far!


	2. An unexpected twist

Chapter Two

An unexpected twist

Sakura's Intervene and Gaara's confused emotions

The sand broke off once Lee fell to the ground! Gaara stood up, putting out his hand again causing the sand to flow over to Lee again!

_'No this has gone too far!'_

Sakura screamed inside her head, and with that she disappeared. Kakashi looked around,

_"Where did she go?"_

With that Gui also disappeared. Gaara's sand was just about to engulf Lee when all of a sudden he felt a body pressed against his back, slightly squeezing him. Gaara was so stunned that he lost control of the sand, making it easy for Gui to appear in front of Lee, blocking the sand attack! Gaara looked down around his waist to see a pair of soft arms encircled around him. He could hear heavy breathing coming from behind him but he didn't want to look. His mind was racing,

_'Why wasn't the sand able to protect me? Why didn't it even try? What is going on?'_

He turned his head slightly to find a pink haired girl with her head buried into his back.

_"Please...Stop...please...please..."_

She trailed off between gasps of air.

He was beyond confused. Along with his entire team, Kankuro grabbed the bars of the balcony exclaiming,

_"IMPOSSIBLE!"_

Baki and Temari had some what of the same reaction. Garra stared down at this girl, noticing as she looked up pools coming from her eyes. He was curious; he reached up and lightly touched her cheek...water? A sharp pain hit him, he griped his chest.

_'Ugh what is she doing to me? I've never felt this before!'_

Baki thought,

_'What? How can the sand let this girl stay there? It's not even trying to separate them? This has never happened before what should we do? Should I go down there?'_

The announcer was about to call the match that Gaara won until...Lee stood up. Sakura heart dropped, as tears started to flow more freely. How can he be standing?

_'Oh no! Lee!'_

Sakura let go of Gaara and rushed over to Lee. From all the books she's read she knew a little about medicine, she knew enough to know that Lee needed to get to the hospital wing and fast! But the medics would need at least 10 minutes to get there...Lee couldn't waste that much time! There wasn't much that she could do...she healed over Lee while trying to think of what to do...when a tear fell.

_'That's it! Water!'_

Her hands shot up to her face, everyone was so shocked they couldn't even move! She had poured out enough tears to make a water bubble. This she put in the palm of her hand before exclaiming,

_"Gui Sensei I know you are upset but Lee needs you now! There isn't much time! I need you to take his head and keep it elevated!"_

Gui sunk to his knees and put Lee's head in his lap. Gaara just stood there and stared at this girl, who was she, how was she able to affect him this way? Sakura inserted the water bubble into Lee's chest, making him scream in pain. She pressured all her chakura into him, then she pulled out the bubble which was filled with sand.

_"There...that cleared his lungs, he'll at least be able to breath."_

With that said the medics showed up and took Lee away on a stretcher. Sakura stood up, her face stained with tears. Gaara just stood there for a few more minutes until Gui hugged Sakura and thanked her so much for helping Lee. With that Gaara shook himself out of his trance like state and transported himself back up to the balcony beside his sister. Temari couldn't believe her eyes! A pink haired girl just stood behind her brother crying into his back! The sand always was able to block or attempt to block an attack...why didn't it try to block this one?

_'Maybe...just maybe the sand knew that this girl wasn't a threat..."_

She thought. Maybe this girl was something to keep an eye on. She looked down at Gaara but by the look on his face she knew not to say anything. He was just staring at Sakura, Temari never saw him pay this much attention to anyone. Temari turnt her head back to see who was next when she heard,

_"Why was water coming from her eyes?"_

She knew that the question wasn't directed towards anyone but he was her younger brother and since he had that demon inside him he never really understood anything about emotions, so she felt the need to answer him,

_"There called tears Gaara..."_

He turnt his head to her and answered her, his voice was harsh but with a slight softness to him, his face really looked curious,

_"What is that some form of chakura?"_

Temari smiled slightly while shaking her head,

_"No Gaara, it's not chakura. See when a person is overwhelmingly sad they will sometimes cry, releasing tears of water from their eyes. It's a way to express the sadness a person is going through..."_

Gaara turned his entire body to face her, his voice now became the same angry voice it was before,

_"If she didn't you chakura or some type of attack why did my chest feel like it was being ripped apart? She had to have done something!"_

Temari took a step back, taken back by his tone; he was somewhat sweet merely a few seconds ago, what happened? She had a feeling that he wasn't asking the question, like he didn't want to hear the answer; he was merely stating how confused he was, and how ready he was to believe that anything caused his pain instead of getting into a conversation about it and admitting to himself that something happened.

Sakura walked up to the balcony with Gui and stood there listening to him thank her for everything, but her mind wasn't there, it was racing,

_'What was I thinking? He could have easily turned and killed me! Why didn't he? Was his sand tired from the battle that it couldn't defend him? No impossible because it was on the attack of Lee when I got there...something's strange about that...'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Naruto rushing over, leaving behind him a speechless Kankuro. Naruto yelled,

_"Sakura what the hell was that?"_

With that she snapped back into reality, she turned to face Naruto and Kakashi Sensei. Kakashi exclaimed,

_"What in the world were you thinking Sakura, you're not one to be so reckless. That kind of thing is something I would expect from Naruto not you..."_

Sakura just stood there scratching her head,

_"I don't know really...I couldn't just stand by and watch Lee get killed..."_

She was interrupted by Kankuro,

_"Wow girl you are probably the luckiest person in the world that Gaara didn't kill you."_

Everyone turned to look at him, Naruto looked like he was about to break into a rant but Sakura interrupted his explosion,

_"Actually...I think Lee is luckier..."_

Kankuro just smirked and nodded, and with that he walked back over to the other side of the balcony where his siblings were. The last match was between Dosu and Choji. The match ended really quickly, which brought an end to this stage of the exams, everyone was told to go home, and those who had advanced to the next round were to report back in the morning.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief,

_'thank you, finally the suffering is done...at least for today..."_

In one month's time all this will be stirred up again...but until then she was going to enjoy every moment.


	3. An unseen visitor and a Nosey Sasuke

Chapter Three

An unseen visitor and a Nosey Sasuke

Naruto wouldn't let Sakura walk home by herself, he kept saying that Gaara might like try and kill her or something. Sakura just rolled her eyes but decided that it was probably pointless to argue with him. He wouldn't listen to anything she said anyway. The walk to her house was strangely quiet, Naruto barley said anything. They arrived at her apartment where she said her goodbyes to Naruto and that she would see him in the morning. Opening the front door she walked inside, but went right out the back door. She just wanted to get away from everything and be left alone in the crisp night air.

Jumping from tree to tree she made her way to a training ground. This is where she used to train with Naruto and Iruka. Gosh so much had changed since these exams started. She sat perched on top of a training post, just relaxing. But unbeknownst to her two light blue eyes were watching her every move.

Gaara never felt such a need to know a person before; he was determined to find out everything about this girl and her strange power over him. He just sat perched on a nearby tree watching her, her every move, every breath he noticed. Gaara hadn't noticed but he had been watching her for nearly two hours.

_'What could she be thinking?'_

He thought to himself. He would never have guessed that she was thinking about him as well. Sakura had spent two hours replaying the night's events.

_'How could I have been so stupid? He could have easily killed me...why didn't he?'_

She finally figured that she had spent enough time thinking about it, she stood up and started hoping the trees towards home. Arriving home, she flopped onto her bed and passed out.

Little did she know that a certain red headed boy could not convince his body to let him fall asleep? Gaara and his siblings had been put up in a hotel suite during the duration of the exam. Sitting up in his bed with a slight sigh he threw his legs over the side of the bed, crashing his head into his hands he wondered aloud,

_"Why can't I stop thinking about her?"_

The sliding of the door made his sand shoot protectively around him.

_"Gaara are you alright? I heard you yell..."_

Came the calming voice of his sister Temari. He sighed as the sand collapsed and went back into his gourd. He just shook his head putting his head back in his hands. Temari walked farther into the room sitting at the edge of his bed. Not wanting to abruptly shoot off his bed he merely scotched over slightly. Sensing the slight spark in tension she sighed and exclaimed,

_"Gaara it isn't good for you to keep everything so bottled up inside. It's like your adding fuel to a fire building up inside you, and one of these days you're gonna put too much fuel in and you're going to explode, both physically and mentally."_

He took in her words, cocking his head to the side to see her face. He smirked slightly before stating,

_"Temari I have not shown any form of emotion in my entire life and I haven't had an explosion."_

She looked directly at him thinking on if she should say what was on her mind, deciding to stand up and make her way to the door so she would be a safe distance away before he could react she calmly replied,

_"Not true Gaara...I remember a certain time when you did have an explosion..."_

He shot up straight knowing exactly what she was talking about. No one had ever brought that up since it happened. She smiled slightly while adding,

_"Well baby brother if I may make a suggestion. If you want to know about her simply talk to her."_

She closed the door leaving a stunned Gaara. He laid back down, just thinking of how he would talk to the pink haired kenoichi.

The next morning came faster than she expected. Rolling out of bed she decided she could spare some time taking a bath. She had always been rushed into the shower but today she woke up early enough not to care about the time. Smiling she grabbed a towel and headed into the bathroom striping once she got in, letting the water run over her as she laid in the tub felt amazing for her muscles. She sighed shut the water off, shut her eyes and just relaxing, letting the water take away all her aches and pains. After about an hour she figured she better get out before she turned into a prune. Getting out she relised she hadn't brought her cloths in with her, not seeing this as a problem she wrapped the towel around her body and opened the bathroom door. Walking out through the living room the apartment door slammed open, stopping in her tracks only to be met with a star struck Naruto and very red Kakashi. Naruto quickly rushed out of the door way to avert his eyes, while Kakashi just stood and stared. Sakura quickly noticed what she was wearing and instead of freeking out she exclaimed,

_"I'll be out in minute guys,"_

as she turned and headed to her bedroom, quickly getting dressed she walked back out to see Kakashi was still standing in the same spot he was when she came out of the bathroom, rolling her eyes she walked past him and stated,

_"Make sure to lock the door on your way out!"_

As she started walking to the arena while Naruto kept blabbing about how sorry he was and that he didn't see anything, Sakura just waved him off telling him the more he talked about it the weirder it would get. Naruto agreed sheepishly scratching his head. Today they were going to go train for a little bit then head out to see what the next stage of the exams would be for both Naruto and Saskue. Not that she really cared if Sasuke made it, she just made it seem like she cared to get to Ino...and boy was she good at it!

Arriving at their training ground they sat and waited for Kakashi...about a half hour later Sakura was getting antsy so she asked Naruto if he'd train with her.

_"Well I donno Sakura...I don't wanna like hurt you or anything..."_

Naruto babbled, Sakura sighed and stood up, about to walk away when she noticed a certain blue haired ninja appeared behind Naruto.

_"She would pulverize you Naruto...but then again...that's not hard..."_

Naruto spun around, face all red, and lunged towards him, tackling him to the ground only to find that it was a log, he used a transformation justu. Sakura huffed,

_'Gosh Naruto how old are you? Stop acting like you're that stupid to not have known that was a transformation justu...'_

Her thoughts interrupted by the blonde boy freeking out,

_"Ugh where'd he go? Dammit Saskue!"_

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes,

_'Gosh he must really be stupid... how did he manage to make it to the second stage of the exams?'_

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts she hadn't noticed the blue haired ninja was standing behind her. Startled by a whisper in her ear,

_"Train with me Sakura..."_

She immediately jumped forward getting some distance between the two. Sasuke never wanted to train with her before why all of a sudden the change,

_"What why?"_

Sasuke smirked while adding,

_"I know you have a new teacher Sakura...I want to see just how good of a teacher she really is..."_

Sakura gasped,

_'How did he know that? Has he been stalking me or something?'_

Her thoughts interrupted yet again by the blonde,

_"Gosh I'm starving if Kakashi sensei isn't here soon I'm gonna go get some ramen..."_

The copy nin appeared behind Naruto coughing, making the boy jump slightly. Sakura turned and laughed as the blonde lay on the ground. Kakashi closed his eye (generally meaning that he smiled) and gave a slight chuckle before raising a folder in the air. Sakura was confused but then jumped with excitement,

_"what's that for Kakashi Sensei?"_

smiling at the eagerness of his student. But his smile vanished as he exclaimed,

_"well it turns out that there was a snake in the chunin exams...someone who didn't make it to the last part..."_

Sakura gasped,

_"Akatsuki..."_

Kakashi stared at her,

_'How did she know that? oh no...she remembers'_

It finally dawned on him. Naruto and Saskue both gave confused looks, Sakura shook her head, tears swelling in her eyes, Kakashi took a step forward to try and console the girl,

_"Sakura I am sorry...I forgot..."_

opening his arms to hug her she pushed past him and blurted,

_"I gotta go..."_

She sprinted away. Kakashi stood there mentally slapping himself, why hadn't he remembered that? God the fifth hokage was going to have his head for this one.

Why was this happening, why couldn't he leave her alone, why didn't he just stay away? She didn't want to stick around to find out, one way or another he was going to pay for what he did to her family.


	4. The Untold Story

Chapter Four

The Untold Story:

Sakura's Destroyed Family

Naruto was so confused,

_"What the hell just happened!"_

Kakashi sighed before walking over to a rock, crouching down he began,

_"I should have known not to say something like that in front of her...since its out I mine as well fill the two of you in..."_

Naruto plopped down in front of Kakashi like a five year old at story time, while Sasuke lent against a wall. Kakashi closed his eye and started,

_**(This part appears as a flash back!)**_

When Sakura was a little girl, 6 years old, she lived with her parents in a beautiful home. She was born into a family of very gracious people. Her parents could hire maids and such to do the house work but her mother would always shake her head at the idea,

_"Now why would you want that Sakura? Putting your own stuff away gives you a greater sense of pride when you finish, besides...it makes it easier to find things when you remember you put them away..."_

Sakura would always smile, she loved her mom. She was by far the nicest person on the face of the earth. Along with her father. He was a very successful ninja, Sakura always wanted to be just like him. That was probably the only reason why she became a ninja in the first place. Her father would always help her, make her train until she passed out, make her feel she had accomplished anything that she set out to do. Sakura had by far the most perfect life...until one day...

It was the middle of summer, the night before her birthday, she could barely sleep she was so excited, she laid in her bed for a few hours before giving up...it was the middle of the night, she couldn't sleep as much as she tried, so she climbed out her window and sat on the roof, looking up at the sky. Her mother would have killed her, she always told her to stay off the roof...but Sakura never listened, it was so calming and peaceful being out there. She was starting to get sleepy when she saw a group of people sneaking into her house, before she had time to react she heard screams from downstairs, she went to climb inside, when she saw a man standing in the middle of her room, he was wearing a black robe that had red clouds on it, her breath caught in her throat when he took a step closer, she skooched farther outside, nearing the edge of the roof, tears falling freely from her face. The man took a step further, stretching his hand out for hers,

_"I'm not going to hurt you Sakura..."_

His words were cut off by a kunai to the through. Sakura blinked the tears from her eyes as she saw her father behind the man,

_"Who sent you here? What do you want!"_

The man smirked, such an evil face, he chuckled softly before stating,

_"You know exactly why we are here..."_

Interrupted again by a kunai pointing directly at his forehead, he opened his eyes only to smirk again,

_"but let me guess...she doesn't know..."_

The woman standing in front of his pressed the kunai sharply into his head, letting a flood of blood trickle down. Sakura couldn't believe her eyes, her mother just killed someone, but her mother wasn't even a ninja...she was always against killing...

_"why solve a problem with force when you can solve it with your mind...yes it may take a little longer, but the greatest sense of accomplishment will come to those who take the time to think things through..."_

Sakura smiled as she slowly crawled back to her window. Her mother turning around to see her, a smile spread across her face as she opened her arms. Sakura lunged inside, finally feeling the warmth of her mother's arms around her. Her father placed a firm hand on her mother's shoulder before exclaiming,

_"We have to get her out of here..."_

her mother nodded before picking Sakura up in her arms and running. They ran towards the front door, all Sakura could see were dead bodies everywhere, she buried her face into her mother's chest, as they made their way out the front door. They were almost to the gates when a group of ninja appeared blocking their exit. Her parents stopped short, her mother panting exclaimed,

_"do something..."_

her father shook his head before stating,

_"I can't I don't have enough chakra...but I won't let them take her..."_

he threw two handfuls of kunai at them, only to be ricashaied back to him, striking him in the temple. He rushed towards them, every ounce of his chakra bundled in his hand. He knocked out maybe two of three of them before being surrounded. He looked around trying to figure out what would be his next move; he looked up only to be met with a ninja driving a kunai through his head. Her mother screamed and gripped her closer to her chest; she took a few steps back. One ninja stepped out of the bunch, and exclaimed,

_"You know we don't want to kill you in front of her...she already lost one parent, let's not make her see the other die...so why don't you just let her go that way when we kill you at least she won't see..."_

her mother gripped her as tight to her chest as she could, Sakura could feel her mother start to tremble, she looked up only to be splashed by a tear, her mother yelled through clenched teeth,

_"You will never get to her! I would rather her see me die then to see me give her to the likes of you...damn Akatsuki"_

she looked down at her daughter; she crouched down, putting her on the ground before whispering,

_"I want you to know that whatever happens to me...I will always be with you..."_

she reached around her own neck and lifted a necklace over her head,

_"I love you...don't you ever forget that..."_

she hugged her daughter close for the last time, squeezing her tightly before standing up. She stepped forward knowing that this was the end, she pulled out a pair of Shuriken looked up and smiled, running right into the awaiting ninja. Sakura didn't want to watch, she started to run back inside her house, she heard her mother scream, she knew she was dead, tears falling from her eyes she ran up to her parents room, closing and locking the door, she rushed into the closet and shut the doors, crouching down in the corner. Sobbing uncontrollably, she heard footsteps; she instantly got quiet and grabbed the only thing she had to defend herself with, a practice kunai her father had given her. Breathing heavily she started to shake, closing her eyes, trying to focus. She heard the door being pounded; eventually it was kicked in,

_"Sakura come out...come out where ever you are..."_

she looked through the slits of the closet to see a younger looking boy with blonde hair parted half way into a pony tail, he didn't look too bad...but looks can be deceiving. Lost in her thoughts she saw him close his eyes, she stood up ready to run when his eyes flashed open, a smirk on his face,

_"Found you..."_

he took a step towards the closet, she took in a breath, the boy grabbed the handles of the closet door, ripping them open in a flash, to find a terrified little girl, shaking and crying uncontrollably. The man crouched down and sighed before opening his arms to her,

_"I promise I won't hurt you...your safe with me..."_

Sakura looked into his eyes, everything in her body told her not to believe him, when another boy appeared behind him. He was a taller boy with long black hair. He placed a hand on the others shoulder before exclaiming,

_"hurry up...just grab her so we can get out of here..."_

The boy crouched down's face instantly became angry,

_"We need her to trust us...unless you would rather have her terrified of us for the rest of her life...she is going to be with us forever...the least you could do is show a little emotion..."_

with that said the other boy smirked about to put an end to the conversation when a crunch of rubble under feet snapped his attention towards the door. Sakura cursed herself for being so stupid, she stood at the doorway for a second before making a run for it, the two boys ran to follow her, she made it all the way to the front door, opening it to find a large number of ninja's...but she knew them...the entire town was there...a woman in the front stepped out, she crouched down to Sakura and exclaimed,

_"You're okay now.."_

Sakura instantly broke down and cried, the woman tenderly pulled her into her chest, hugging her a tight as she could, rubbing her back while whispering,

_"It's okay...I got you...your safe now..."_

she picked her up, turned and started to walk away, when a voice behind her stated,

_"We will be back for her..."_

The woman turned to see the black haired boy standing in the doorway, behind him stood the blonde haired boy. The black haired boy exclaimed,

_"on her 18th birthday will be back for her...we will have more numbers and bring the most powerful force you have ever seen...you haven't seen the last of us..."_

and with that both boys disappeared.

_**(Kakashi's voice now enters, making the flashback end)**_

_"Lady Tsunade ended up taking Sakura in, raising her as if she was her own daughter. It has been almost 12 years since that night, no one spoke a word about it since then. Lady Tsunade became the fifth hokage and used her hokage power and made the entire village keep their mouths shut in fear that it would bring back suppressed memories, but sooner or later she knew she was going to have to tell her...in time it would happen...but until then she was going to make sure that Sakura would never have to be reminded about that night...but the time has come for her to be told...in two days it will be Sakura's 18th birthday...they will make their move...and we will have to be ready for it..."_

Naruto sat with tears in his eyes, he never knew that Sakura's parents had died, he always thought she was so lucky to have the life that she had, but he was wrong. Sasuke stood against the wall thinking about everything...now it made sense...no wonder the fifth hokage was training her...it all made sense now. The three of them sat there in silence...no one knowing what to say. Not only were they shocked, but so was the blonde haired girl who sat on a tree limb above. Temari had been spying on Sakura in order to find out why she was able to get so close to her brother the day before, and now it made sense, Sakura had had some of the same troubles Gaara had when he was young. Quickly she wiped the tears from her face, she needed to tell Baki, he would know what to do.

Sakura had made her way over to a cliff which oversaw the entire village, needing to be away from everything. She sat down on a rock and clutched her necklace, she hadn't taken it off since that night, it was a silver locket, she opened it to see a small picture of her parents on one side, the other side was engraved,

_Happy Birthday to our daughter...we will always love you-Mom&Dad,_

a tear drop fell to her hand as she closed it. She had known this was going to happen, she had sensed his presence when he introduced himself to her team mates at the chunin exams, they were back...and this time she was ready.


	5. The Sand Siblings Revelation

Chapter Five

The Sand Siblings Revelation:

Gaara's Protectiveness Revealed!

Temari hopped her way back to the hotel, she barged her way into the room to see Kankuro and Baki sitting around the table, Kankuro exclaimed,

_"It's about time! Look at us...we're starving over here!"_

Baki cuffed him over the head, Temari laid both hands on the table,

_"I found out a lot today...about that girl..."_

both Baki and Kankuro became instantly quiet. As Temari told them both of Sakura's story Gaara sat around the corner, listening to her. Gaara shook his head before walking into the room, all eyes instantly moved to him. He stared at them while saying,

_"We need to go to the gathering about the next stage in the exams.."_

The three of them totally forgot about that, they rushed to get ready. Walking towards the same arena they battled at the day before, as soon as they walked in Gaara instantly noticed the girls' team, but she wasn't with them. This gave him a chance to talk to them.

Without saying a word to anyone Gaara walked over to team 7, while Baki and Kankuro exchanged confused looks. Temari rolled her eyes at them, and she slowly followed Gaara.

Gaara walked over to them, making sure to look directly at the Sensi when he spoke.

_"I know you don't know much about me but I want to extend my help. I know the girl is going to be in danger.."_

With those last words Naruto started yelling,

_"how did you know that? What are you doing stalking her or something?"_

Before Naruto could say anything else Kakashi covered his hands over his mouth,

_"I am not quite sure how you know about that but we will gladly take any help you are offering to keep her safe."_

Gaara nodded as he walked over to his team. Temari smiled playfully to her brother,

_"Aww...its love in the making...hehehe I'm so excited!"_

He hadn't the slightest idea what she was talking about but at the moment he didn't care. His focus was averted to the entrance where he saw her walk in over to her team.

Gaara hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she came into the room, but no one seemed to notice...besides Temari. Temari kept looking between her brother and the girl, seeing something was wrong. The girl seemed very nervous about something, Temari's thoughts interrupted by the hokage.

The hokage basically said that the next stage of the exams would begin in a month giving the students enough time to prepare. With that he dismissed everyone, but called Sakura over to him.

She knew what it was about, so she wasn't really surprised. Naruto offered to wait for her but Sakura brushed him off saying the hokage would be with her. He nodded and hesitantly left. Gaara and his team went outside and were about to head home when Gaara exclaimed,

_"I have to make sure of something I will be home later...don't wait up..."_

and with that he disappeared in a ball of sand. Temari smiled as Baki and Kankuro exchanged confused looks. Temari laughed at their confusion but didn't feel like letting them in on the secret love. Instead they just went home.

Sakura could have recited the conversation they had before it even happened. He simply reminded her about the situation and told her to keep on the lookout. There would be undercover nin watching over her every second. Blah Blah Blah...she thought. By the time he was done talking her ear off it was dark out. He asked her if she needed any assistance home, which she obviously said no...just cuz she was a girl didn't mean that she needed protecting...and the thought that these people didn't realize her skills as a ninja was very insulting.

Walking home in the dark she could handle, about half way there she found nothing out of place, until she spotted a very little boy wondering about, crying. She walked over trying to console the boy, he babbled about how he lost his mom and needed to find her.

_"My name is Sakura. What is your name?"_

The boy stuttered,

_"Kab...Kabukun..."_

Looking at the boy she wondered why his name and voice sounded so familiar, shaking her head at this thought she turned back to the boy. She took his hand in hers and had him lead the way he remembered his mother going. They walked further and further into the woods, Sakura figured the little boy was too scared to remember, so she gave his little hand a tight squeeze before saying,

_"I am sure we will find you mom honey, but it's getting dark, you should probably get some rest..."_

The boy looked as if he were about to burst into tears. Sakura smiled slightly while crouching down to be at eye level with him.

_"I'll tell you what...tonight we can have a little sleep over...and in the morning when it is sunny outside we will find your mom...does that sound like a plan?"_

The little boy smiled slightly wiping a tear from his eye while nodding. She smiled and started to lead the boy back to town when she saw a flash of black dart between two trees. She protectively pushed Kabukan behind her, while whipping out a kunai.

_"who's there?"_

A low chuckle was heard, she took a step back to cover Kabukan only to find that he wasn't there. She mentally slapped herself for not relising the decoy in the first place, she should have seen this coming.

_"I am very surprised with you Sakura...you are usually very good at transformation justu's I guess we just found your weak spot..."_

Sakura took a step back throwing the kunai at the black silhouette, only to hit a tree. She focused on where any form of noise was coming from but she couldn't hear any, closing her eyes giving her more control on what to concentrate on she felt a presence behind her. Gottcha...swiftly she spun around with a kunai aimed directly at the person only to be stopped mid contact. Gasping she struggled to understand...

'_what is this? why can't I move? Is it shadow possession? No it can't be its too dark there aren't any shadows..'_

Thoughts interrupted by that low chuckle again. She looked up only to be met with a pair of white eyes,she tried so hard to move but she physically couldn't. She stared at this man, he looked like a shark. The man stepped closer to her, filling the almost nonexistent gap between them. The man placed a hand on her chin, lifting her gaze to his. Smirking he exclaimed,

_"mmhmm Sakura you have grown..."_

Taking a strand of her hair and moving it out of her face.

_"Stop fooling around Kisame, grab her so we can go...I can only keep her still like this for a little while..."_

came a voice from the shadows. Sakura couldn't turn her head to see who it was until the man came into view, he was a red haired man. Sakura didn't know why these guys wanted to kidnap her so bad but she wasn't going to have any of it. She thought of Kakashi's teachings of how to get out of situations like this. She closed her eyes and concentrated until...that's it!

She tightened her eyes shut focusing her chakra throughout her body, mainly in her fist. She swung only to be caught by a hand. She looked up met with the man's smirk, he chuckled before adding,

_"so aggressive...I like it...you will be perfect at his side..."_

Sakura blinked,

_'what the heck? At his side? Who the heck is he?'_

He noticed the confusion,

_"They haven't told you anything have they?"_

She didn't even have to respond, he knew the answer. Smirk still plastered on his face he lent down to her face,

_"That's okay...the less you know the better."_

She was so confused, what the hell was going on? She focused again on her chakra, but this time she focused it into her feet...got it! She jumped a few feet away getting some distance between them. As soon as she got distance she threw a kunai at the man only for it to be rickashaded back at her, scraping her cheek, she instantly threw her hand up to hold the gash when the man was right in front of her, smirking that same smirk,

_"Feisty...I love it!"_

he laughed, as he lifted his hand to touch her all of a sudden a bolt of sand came crashing into his chest, Sakura blinked to find Gaara standing protectively in front of her. She was shocked,

_"Gaara?"_

she whispered, he turnt around to meet her face, he quickly noticed the gash on her cheek, which he got extremely mad at, He turned around towards the guy just in time to see him rushing towards them, he again stood in front of Sakura as he shot sand canons at the man, as the man was down Gaara turned, took Sakura in his arms and surrounded them in a wall of sand. Everything was spinning so fast, she instantly hid her head in his chest which just made his grip tighter against her. He didn't know what this feeling was or what it meant but for some reason he felt that it was good, he liked the feeling of herm being with him, and he'd be damned if he let some guy bother her.


	6. Emotions

Chapter Six

Emotions

The sand spinning around them finally stopped, she was so scared to open her eyes until she felt his arms rub up and down her back softly as he rested his chin on her head. She opened her eyes to be met with the redness of his rob. Before she could do anything else he grabbed her arm and led her out of the room and towards the kitchen,

_"TEMARI I NEED YOU!"_

was all she heard him yell, with that the blonde girl came running out of her room only to stop short,

_'what the heck?'_

before she could manage to say anything he sat Sakura down and pointed to her cheek.

_"She is injured...fix her..."_

Both Sakura and Temari were shocked by his remark. Temari had never seen this side of Gaara before, it was almost as if he was caring for this girl, she smiled inertly,

_'I think I like this girl...'_

as she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit. Taking out some alcohol to disinfect the wound and a small bandage. Gaara was passing back and forth impatiently, Temari laughed to herself,

_'Love in the making...'_

she pulled up a chair in front of Sakura, sat down, took a towel and poured some alcohol on it, she looked up at the pink haired girl and exclaimed

_"This is going to sting..."_

Sakura nodded and laughed

_"Been a medic nin for 3 years...I know...just be quick...please..."_

Temari smiled as she quickly dabbed the towel along the gash. Sakura hissed at the pain while tightening her face. Gaara grabbed Temari's wrist in a second. Temari looked up at him just to see the pain in his eyes, she smiled up at her little brother, slowly taking his hand off her wrist,

_"It's alright Gaara, the worst part is over..."_

she leant down and bandaged up the wound. As soon as the bandage was on the door came crashing open, followed by Kankuro and Baki. Both of which stopped as soon as they saw the pink haired girl. Before they could move or say anything Gaara was in front of Sakura. Sakura just looked up at him,

_'why is he protecting me?'_

Temari stood between Garra and her team, she just nodded in their direction, without saying a word the two guys broke out laughing. Temari sighed, trying to hold back her grin she looked back at Sakura and exclaimed,

_"Come on hon, let's get you something to eat..."_

Gaara just stared at the girl, he noticed how tired she looked, he was just about to follow when Kankuro exclaimed,

_"I never thought I'd see this day huh Baki?"_

The sensei just chuckled while shaking his head, Gaara just brushed there mumbling off as he went to his bedroom, coming out with one of his black satin robes, heading to the kitchen he saw Temari leaning against the counter watching the food cook, he also noticed Sakura's head on the table, her eyes barley open. His expression went from sad to depressed, he grabbed Temari's arm again and gave her the robe.

_"I will finish up in here...get her to bed...please..."_

Temari's eyes went wide, that was the first time Gaara had ever asked or thanked for anything. This girl defiantly brought out a side of him which she never saw before. She nodded, took the robe and Sakura to the bathroom.

Gaara stood in the kitchen finishing up the food when Baki walked over,

_"So what happened? You wanna talk about it?"_

Before Baki could breathe Gaara was already explaining the entire thing, how he followed this girl since the day she interrupted his match. The way he was taking Baki could just see how much he truly cared for this girl already, before they have even gotten to know each other. Gaara was getting more and more upset taking about the two men, Baki could sense the anger in the room, he walked up to Gaara and put his hand on his shoulder. Gaara slightly calmed down when Temari, who had been standing there for the entire story, knocked on the wall. Gaara instantly stood at attention. Temari smiled slightly before sighing,

_"She's pretty worn down, she has some of the strongest chakra I have ever seen before, but she concentrated too much of it into her hand and her feet that it's left them in bad shape..."_

Gaara's mind immediately flashed back to the woods when Sakura moved to punch the man and when she got distance between them,

_"She'll need to rest for a few days..."_

he frowned,

_"Where is she?"_

_"She's passed out in your room, I figured that's where you planned on having her stay.."_

Gaara smiled slightly before putting the food he made on the table, he didn't think he would have the heart to wake her up, he couldn't stand to see any ounce of pain on her face. He cleaned up slightly before walking towards the doorway, placing his hand on Temari's shoulder,

_"Thank you Temari.."_

She just smiled and nodded as he walked to his room. As soon as they heard the door close Baki exclaimed,

_"Wow...I never would have suspected the chunin exams would bring Gaara into a place like this, I figured it was just another killing spree for him...maybe the __**sand hokage**__ knew what was going to happen, he did insist we come here..."_

Temari shrugged while adding,

_"I'm not sure...but I would love to find out..."_


	7. Itachi's Plan and A Bothersome Naruto

Chapter Seven

Itachi's Plan and A Bothersome Naruto

"_What do you mean she got away?"_

Yelled the man from the table. The two men flinched in front of him.

"_We didn't mean too sir…she….a sand nin stole her away…"_

Replied Kisame timidly,

"_WHAT? You let her get away in the arms of a sand nin?"_

He flipped the table at this point,

"_Are you crazy! If she is with a sand nin we will never have her powers in our clan, and we will never be able to overtake all the villages!"_

The man stood face to face with Kisame when a black haired man approached,

"_I promise father it won't happen again, this time I will go, perhaps I can reason with my bride…"_

He exclaimed with a chuckle. The other man smirked and exclaimed,

"_I was hoping you would say something like that Itachi..."_

Itachi smirked while he grabbed Kisame and headed for the village hidden in the leaves.

Meanwhile…

Gaara sat at the end of his bed watching the pink haired kunoichi wrapped up in his red satin sheets. He never remembered ever being more fascinated with someone before in his life. He sat there just thinking what had just happened in the course of a few days which led him to this wonderful woman. He thought

'_Why is she not afraid of me? Why doesn't she run away like all the others?'_

He hadn't known how long he had been sitting there staring at her until he saw the sheets move. She turned over, her face cringed, he wanted to know what she was thinking, he wanted so desperately to help her- although he didn't know why. Her breath quickened, she was tossing and turning, Gaara stood up quickly and rushed to her side. He sat on the side of the bed, grabbing her by the shoulders he lifted her up slightly until her eyes fluttered open. Their eyes met in a second. Before she could say anything he asked,

"_Are you alright?"_

She nodded. Gaara was about to say something else when his bedroom door was flung open and Temari rushed in the room, followed by Baki. Temari quickly stopped and smiled,

"_How are you feeling hon?"_

Gaara turned around and shot his sister a death glare,

"_What is it Temari?"_

"_There is a very loud and obnoxious blonde boy outside yelling for Sakura…should I let him in?"_

Sakura sighed as she tried to stand up. She stammered slightly, Gaara was at her side in a heartbeat, grabbing her arm and keeping her up. Temari exclaimed,

"_Whoa you need to relax hon, your chakra is very low, you don't have enough strength to do anything right now, lay back down and I will bring him in."_

Sakura smiled slightly and replied,

"_Thanks Temari but I am fine…really…thanks so much you guys for putting up with me…"_

Gaara was not buying this "I'm alright" crap. He picked her up bridal style and placed her back on the bed as he exclaimed,

"_Wait here…"_

Sakura was taken back,

'_Why is he being so nice to me? Why is he like protecting me? I figured after what I did at the exams he would hate me.'_

Baki chuckled to himself as he thought,

'_I think this girl has had a great effect on him already…'_

All Sakura could her was Naruto's voice,

"_I KNOW SHE'S IN THERE YOU STALKER! AND IF YOU DON'T LET HER GO I'LL…."_

He was interrupted by the door opening. His jaw dropped once he saw the two.

He rushed forwards only to be stopped in his tracks; he looked down at his feet to see they were stuck in sand.

"_What the hell! Get this off me! If you do anything to her I swear I will kill you!"_

Gaara calmly exclaimed,

"_She is weak and needs her rest…if you must please come inside I do not want her to be outside…"_

Naruto exclaimed,

"_What you want? Where is she…?"_

His voice trailed off as his eyes made it behind Gaara.

"_Sakura…"_

He whispered, Gaara turned around to see Sakura held up by Temari,

"_Naruto will you stop…I'm fine…"_

Gaara instantly forgot about the sand, letting go of Naruto's feet while rushing to Sakura. He glared at Temari,

"_Don't look at me like that; she wouldn't listen to me…"_

Gaara ignored his sister and picked up Sakura again, with her clutched in his arms he turned to Naruto,

"_Come inside Naruto…"_

He turned back around and led everyone back inside. He was about to bring Sakura back into his room when she hissed slightly while gripping his shirt. He quickly spun to Temari, thankfully she knew what she needed,

"_Lay her on the couch!"_

Gaara nodded and did as he was told as Temari quickly got her medical supplies. She came back in with a hot cup of water with some median mixed in. She sat next to Sakura on the couch and made her drink it,

"_This will help boost your chakra, the lack of it is what's causing you pain, you really shouldn't have moved, that just made it worse…"_

As those last words came out of her mouth Gaara grabbed Naruto's shirt,

"_You see what you did! She was fine and you caused her pain!"_

Sand started encircling Naruto, Gaara's eyes were starting to turn black. Naruto yelled,

"_What I did? What did you do huh? Why is she even like this in the first place? What did you do to her?"_

Baki quickly rushed to Gaara, putting his hands on Gaara's shoulders he squeezed tightly,

"_Gaara she's alright, relax, this boy had no idea what had happened, he was trying to help her as much as you were…stop…"_

Gaara instantly released the sand, dropping Naruto to the floor. Kankuro was behind Naruto in a second, picking him up off the floor he exclaimed,

"_Listen kid, you are greatly outnumbered here, the least you could do is hear what happened before charging in and freeking out…"_

Everyone stopped and looked at the couch as Sakura giggled,

"_Good luck with that…I've been trying to teach him that for years…"_

Temari laughed. Gaara just stood beside Sakura glaring at Naruto. Temari motioned for Baki to take Gaara away, he nodded and placed his hand on Gaara's shoulder,

"_Come with me, we need to get some supplies, Temari and Kankuro will stay and watch Sakura, she will be fine…"_

Gaara looked at Sakura only to see her smile and nod at him. He smiled slightly and nodded back, with that both he and Baki left.

Naruto crouched beside Sakura and was just about to ask what happened when she started telling him everything, about the Shark man Kisame, and the red headed boy. With that she heard a buzzing sound, she looked at Naruto as he put his hand to his ear,

"_Yeah I got her, meet me here…"_

Sakura looked at him with a confused face,

"_Lady Tsunade sent the whole team out looking for you…Kakashi said you may be in danger…and it looks like he was right…but I was too late…I'm sorry Sakura…"_

Sakura smiled sweetly while sitting up on the couch, Temari helped her as much as she could to get comfortable,

"_Don't worry about it Naruto…but you owe Gaara an apology…if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't be here…"_

Naruto nodded. Sakura looked at Temari and asked,

"_I know this is a weird question but do you know why he appeared when he did? Not that I am ungrateful because believe me I am…but I am curious as to why he is being so nice to me? I thought he would hate me after what I did at the exams…"_

Temari smirked slightly while answering,

"_You are the first person in a very long time to get past Gaara's sand, anytime anyone was close to him the sand would react. The only other person who was able to do that was…our mother."_

Sakura was about to ask what had happened when Temari continued,

"_Our mother passed away a while ago…but that's not the point…our mother was the only person in the world who cared for Gaara and wasn't afraid of him…she showed him what love was…then when she passed on our father tried to kill Gaara…after that he never trusted people again…but see the fact that the sand let you in shows that you would never hurt him, and that he could trust you…Baki, Kankuro, nor I have ever dared to get that close to him in fear that he may retaliate against us…you are extremely special to him now, now he relates you to our mom."_


	8. Complications

Chapter 8

Complications

Itachi's Plan Interrupted

That night Sakura convinced Gaara to let her go home, saying that she would be okay there. He was extremely reluctant until Kakashi reassured him that there would be watch on Sakura's apartment round the clock. Gaara finally agreed and brought her back to her apartment. He made sure that there were people in all positions around the perimeter of the place before he would leave. She laughed to herself at his determination to keep her safe.

He finally relaxed after noticing that the place was secure. Sakura exclaimed,

"_Don't worry about me…I am fine…I promise…and I'll see you guys tomorrow anyway…we have practice tomorrow…remember…"_

Gaara nodded but in fact he actually forgot, he was so preoccupied with her he didn't really think of anything else. He still didn't understand why he felt this way for this girl but he really liked it. He wanted nothing more than to be close to her. Leaving her tonight was going to be the hardest thing he would have to do in a long time. He took her hand and walked with her out onto the balcony. Once there he pointed out all the nin scattered around her house. She nodded and acknowledged their presence. He looked at her, getting lost in her eyes,

he leaned in,

closing his eyes,

she closed hers,

their faces inches apart,

all of a sudden a whistle was heard. Gaara opened his eyes and looked around only to see Baki and Kankuro standing on the ground.

"_Come on lover boy we got rounds to make…"_

Kankuro yelled, Gaara had no idea what that meant but by the way Sakura's face got beat red he didn't know if it was a good thing or not,

'_I'll deal with him in a second…'_

He thought to himself, he took Sakura's hand in his,

"_here…I want you to have this…"_

He formed some of his sand into a bracelet and put it on her, she looked at him with a confused face,

"_Anytime you are ever in trouble this sand will crumble and I will know…"_

Sakura's beat red face got even redder…if that was even possible. Gaara was about to continue when he heard,

"_Don't make me come up there and get you!"_

Gaara looked over the balcony and shot Kankuro the worst death glare he could possibly muster. Kankuro shut up immediately. Gaara smirked at the look on his face. He turned back to Sakura just in time to see her holding out a chain. Now it was his turn to be confused,

"_I want you to have this…It doesn't have any powers like this bracelet does but anytime you are feeling alone or sad you can just look at it and remember that there is someone out there thinking about you…"_

He stared at her, her words sinking into his head, what was this feeling? His face turned pink, he was trying to understand what was going on when Baki appeared on the balcony railing. Gaara and Sakura turned to face him, Baki exclaimed with a smile,

"_I am sorry Sakura but may we steal him?"_

Sakura laughed and nodded her head, she leaned up and fastened the chain around Gaara's neck and with that she pecked a kiss to his cheek,

"_Thank you…"_

Before Gaara had time to react Baki swept him up in sand and transported him to the ground.

"_Thank you Sakura…if you hadn't done that I would never have been able to catch him so off guard…"_

Sakura laughed and replied,

"_Well you guys have fun, tell Kankuro to butt out or he'll have to deal with me next time…"_

"_I heard that! Bring it on Missy!"_

Came a voice from the ground followed by a scuffle and grunting.

"_It was a joke Gaara…"_

Whined Kankuro. Sakura just stood there ear to ear smiling. Baki turned and said his good byes, and with that the three of them were off. Sakura stood on her balcony for a while after that.

'_Now with Sakura back in her house and away from that sand nin I will be able to make my move, it has to be subtle…'_

Itachi's thoughts were interrupted by Kisame,

"_what are we going to do Itachi?"_

Itachi just brushed him off,

"_first I would like to see the woman who I am supposed to be with…"_

With that he jumped from tree top to tree top until he landed right on the tree in front of Sakura's apartment. He looked through the branches to see the pink haired kunoichi standing on the balcony, her hair blowing softly in the breeze. He stopped short and stared at the girl. Kisame exclaimed,

"_she's pretty huh?"  
><em>Itachi chuckled,

"_I will admit you weren't lying about that, but let's just see how strong she really is…"_

Kisame smirked,

"_well she has a scheduled match tomorrow due to the exams training we can see her there."_

"_Perfect..."_

The next morning came very fast for Sakura, but she was ready her chakra was restored from the night before. She quickly got dressed and headed out the door, only to be met by a certain overly energized Naruto.

"_Good morning Sakura! Are you excited?"_

She rolled her eyes and just started walking towards the meeting ground.

Once they got there they noted Kakashi sitting near the front which they sat next too. Sakura sat between Naruto and Kakashi for the pulmonary discussions from the hokage. Itachi sat and watched her every movement. She was looking around for someone. Kisame asked,

"_I wonder who she's looking for…"_

Itachi shrugged while never taking his eyes off of her. The start of the session was coming, first up it was going to be Kiba against Kankuro, which of course Kankuro won. Next up Sakura Haruno vs. Kin Tsuchi.

"_Finally…"_

Exclaimed Itachi, just as the match was about to begin a certain blue haired man appeared next to Sakura, putting his arm around her he whispered something into her ear, she rolled her eyes at him and pushed him away. The man laughed as he turned around and headed towards Naruto and Kakashi.

Itachi couldn't believe his eyes, Kisame asked,

"_Is that…"_

"_Sasuke…."_


	9. Sakura's Powers Revealed

Chapter 9

Sakura's Powers Revealed

Itachi stared at his younger brother,

'_This is impossible…how is he here?'_

Kisame looked at Itachi then at Sasuke-back and forth.

"_Hey Itachi-that's your little brother…wow you guys are a lot alike…you both look alike and like the same girl…"_

Itachi punched Kisame in the face,

"_We are nothing alike do you understand me!"_

Kisame nodded while holding his face, he didn't say anything else after that. Itachi shook his head,

"_No matter…she is still mine, she was promised to me…not to him…let's just see how well she does in battle…"_

Sakura went to one side of the arena while Kin went to the other side. Kin smirked,

"_I'll give you one chance to forfeit Haruno…after this match begins it won't take longer than a minute to kill you…"_

Sakura smiled but didn't say anything. Kin sighed,

"_Oh well…it'll be your funeral…"_

Right before the match was about to begin Sakura noted a certain red headed boy standing next to his sand siblings, she smiled at him,

'_I'm going to show you that I can protect myself Gaara, you don't have to worry about me…'_

Itachi noticed she was looking at someone, he quickly found the person she was looking at,

"_Is that him? The sand nin who took her away from you last time?"_

Kisame looked over,

"_That's him! That's him alright!"_

Itachi smirked

'_I will have to make myself known to him…'_

He turned his attention back to Sakura,

"_You may begin…"_

Kin smirked while she shook her head,

"_Too bad…such a waste…"_

Sakura herself returned the smirk,

"_For you…"_

She quickly went through some hand signs. Everyone's jaw dropped including Itachi's.

"_That's impossible…so fast I can't even keep up…"_

He activated his sharingan, Kin grumbled,

'_what? This girl isn't that powerful…'_

Sakura hit the ground and yelled,

"_Earth style wood prison!"_

A batch of wood instantly surrounded Kin. Sakura relaxed as she started to walk towards the newly formed prison. while putting on her black gloves.

'_What is she doing?'_

Itachi wondered, Sakura stopped once she heard a sharp whistling sound. She started making more hand signs-but didn't get to finish. Kin broke through the prison and dove from the sky to attack. Sakura dodged quickly. while in the air she through tags attached to multiple kunai at Kin. Kin dodged while adding

"_It's gonna take a lot more than paper bombs to take me down…"_

Sakura smirked,

"_Good thing they aren't bombs…"_

She made hand signs again which started a chain of fire leading to the tags. It instantly engulfed the tags in a blaze. Sakura yelled,

"_Fire style, Fire dragon Justu!"_

Itachi smirked,

"_She has mastered two styles, perfect…"_

Kisame smirked as well while adding,

"_Yeah and her chakra control is amazing as well as her medical skills…"_

"_Medical skills huh? Even better."_

Replied Itachi. As fire engulfed Kin Sakura made another series of hand signs-appearing above the girl. She focused her chakra into her fist, almost smashing her fist into Kin's head; Kin dodged causing Sakura to smash her fist into the ground. The ground crumbled beneath her. Everyone gasped at the sheer strength from her. Sakura looked up at Kin and smirked. The look of pure terror on Kin's face was amazing to Itachi,

"_Perfect…she is perfect…"_

Kin through her hands up. The ref (I donno what else to call him) noticed this and called the match,

"_The winner is Sakura Haruno."_

Sakura smiled as she walked off the field and over to her teammates. Naruto's jaw was hanging while Kakashi smiled, (she could tell because his eye was closed)

"_Great work Sakura…"_

Sakura smiled and nodded at him while Sasuke added,

"_Tsunade has trained you well Sakura…soon you may just be able to be compared to me."_

Sakura rolled her eyes at him,

"_You think you're all that Sasuke…but you're really not…"_

He smirked while appearing behind her, whispering in her ear,

"_That's what you say but it's not exactly what you think…"_

Just then a wall of sand appeared between Sasuke and Sakura as Gaara walked over to her, he smiled at her as she giggled. Before he could say anything Temari exclaimed,

"_Wow way to go Sakura…nice chakra control!"_

As she playfully punched her. Sakura laughed as she nervously itched the back of her neck,

"_Thanks…"_

Sasuke broke through Gaara's wall of sand and was seething with rage. He was about to attack Gaara when Kakashi stood in front of him,

"_that's enough Sasuke…let it go…"_

Sakura stood in front of Gaara watching him. Sasuke smirked as he looked back at Gaara. He just stared at him for a moment before he turned around and left. Sakura smiled at Kakashi and nodded as if to say thank you. Kakashi simply smiled and walked off after Sasuke. Before anything else the hokage said that they would have to continue the matches tomorrow on the count that the arena had been demolished. Sakura smiled slightly as she turned around back to everyone and asked,

"_Well now what do you guys wanna do?"_

Before anyone could say anything Naruto chimed in

"_I'm starving…how about some food…"_

Kankuro raised his fist,

"_Yeah now your speaking my language! Let's eat!"_

Kankuro and Naruto were determined to beat each other to the Raman shop. Temari and Sakura just sighed and shook their heads as they started walking after them. Sakura stopped once she did not feel Gaara's presence behind her. She turned around to see him staring off into the woods. She walked over to him,

"_hey Gaara what's wrong?"_

Gaara turned to her,

"_mm…nothing…"_

She smiled sweetly up at him (although he was not that much taller than her), she took his hand in hers and exclaimed,

"_Come on if we don't hurry Naruto and Kankuro will eat the whole shop…"_

She started walking until Gaara pulled her back into him,

"_I've got a faster way…"_

He pulled her as close as he could to her, wrapping his arms around her, engulfing them both in sand. As Gaara held her close she started to blush again, how did he manage to make her feel this way? The finally appeared in front of the shop,

"_Wahhhh? No fair!"_

Shouted Kankuro.

"_Hey you cheated!"_

Screamed Naruto. Sakura and Gaara just looked at them and smiled.

Back at the arena Itachi and Kisame appeared from their tree branch. Itachi stated,

"_I believe that this sand nin will be harder to get rid of them I thought…we're gonna have a tough time eliminating him…we will have to be quick about it…act quick about it…"_

"_Or we could get her when he's not there…"_

Replied Kisame. Itachi smiled at the man,

"_True…well come on Kisame…we will report back and see where to go from there…I do believe we will have this girl before night time tomorrow…"_

And with that they were gone.


	10. Brother Instincts Revealed

Chapter 10

Naruto's Brother Instincts Activated

Sakura sat with Gaara and Temari on one side of the table, staring at Kankuro and Naruto,

"_Gross…I never thought anyone could eat as much as Kankuro…"_

Exclaimed Temari, Sakura laughed while adding,

"_This is nothing you should see Choji…"_

Gaara sat beside Sakura looking out the window. Sakura turned to him,

"_Gaara…?"_

He looked back at her and smiled. He couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen. He had no idea what was coming but he knew something was.

Gaara takes Sakura's hand in his and just holds it, not looking at her, not doing anything, just staring out the window. Temari looked at their hands and smiled,

"_Love already…that was so quick…"_

She couldn't help but giggle. Naruto looked up at her confused until he noticed the point which she was staring at. Naruto stopped eating and stood up,

"_Gaara…outside…now…"_

Gaara looked up to see everyone's faces just as confused as he was. Sakura and Gaara stood up only to be interrupted by Naruto,

"_Not you Sakura…guy talk."_

He put his hand on Gaara's shoulder and led him outside. Once they were outside Sakura and Temari just stared at them, in an instance Naruto went from calm to flalling his arms in the air. Temari sighed,

"_Man he's annoying."_

Sakura laughed,

"_Yup…that's Naruto. I wonder what they are talking about."_

Temari smirked and replied,

"_I've got a way we could find out…"_

As she looked over at Kankuro. Sakura was confused, Temari exclaimed,

"_Guy talk."_

With that Sakura also smiled. It was very easy for Sakura to convince Kankuro to go be their spy, knowing his love for food she offered to cook for him, which sparked his interest instantly. Kankuro walked outside and over to the two guys. Naruto turned to him and asked,

"_What are you doing here?"_

Kankuro pointed to the window,

"_I think you guys should take this conversation somewhere more private."_

Naruto and Gaara looked over to the window and saw Temari and Sakura staring. Gaara just smiled and sighed, making a hand sigh he carried the three of them off in a mist of sand. Temari shook her head,

"_Damn it Kankuro."_

Gaara dropped the two at one of the training grounds as he perched himself on a bolder. Naruto quickly stood up, brushed himself off, and started yelling again,

"_You listen to me Gaara! You listen good because I am not going to say this again! If you hurt Sakura I swear I will kill you!"_

As he pointed at Gaara. Gaara didn't like being threatened,

"_I wont…"_

Naruto wasn't expecting that, he was expecting more of a fight.

"_Sakura is precious to us here, she has helped out so many people and done so many things for us…we love her."_

Gaara interrupted,

"_Precious?"_

"_Yeah precious…do you know what that means?"_

Naruto asked sarcastically, Gaara shook his head no. Naruto looked down,

"_Oh well…when someone is precious to you you will do anything for them, be anything for them. They are someone who you can relate too, someone you can't live without. Sakura is extremely precious to me, she's like a sister to me…"_

Gaara questioned,

"_How can you think of someone as a sibling when they aren't?"_

"_Well Sakura was one of the first few people to talk to me, to see me for who I am and care for me despite my flaws. She cares for me like Temari, Kankuro, and Baki care for you. She loves me as a brother and I love her as a sister. I know you feel something for her because of the way you protect her, just don't hurt her, she's been through enough in her life she doesn't need to be hurt again…"_

Gaara nodded while adding,

"_I do not know this feeling but when I am around her I am…happy…"_

Kankuro smiled,

'_I can't believe it, a leaf kunoichi tamed the sand village monster...I just hope this carries with him when we head back home."_

Naruto explained to him what love is, what the symbol on his head meant and what it stood for. Gaara just took it all in and thought about it for a moment. He nodded a smile coming to his face,

"_I think I do…love Sakura…"_


	11. Gaara's Offer

Chapter 11

Gaara's Offer

After Naruto's conversation about Sakura it was getting late so they all decided to walk back to the sand siblings apartment to find Sakura cooking. It smelled amazing. Kankuro and Naruto sat at the table and stared at Sakura. Temari and Baki started laughing at how similar they both were. Gaara stood at the door and just looked at everyone smiling, they were all his friends. They were precious to him. Sakura turned around and smiled as she gathered up the food and placed it on the table. It was quickly devowered. She brought a plate over to Gaara,

"_I figured they would eat everything so I saved you some."_

She held the plate up to him with a sweet smile on her face. He smiled back at her, took the plate from her and kissed her cheek,

"_Thank you Sakura."_

Her face turned bright red,

"_Sure thing."_

Temari just giggled at them.

After they all ate Gaara walked with Sakura home. He didn't want to leave her. They walked and sat on the couch watching the sky though the balcony doors. Sakura was getting tired, she didn't even think she just put her head down on his lap and closed her eyes. He lightly rubbed her back taking in the feeling of being close to her, a soft smile on his face. He wanted her to be comfortable but he didn't want to move her. He picked her up bridal style not wanting to wake her and walked her to her bedroom. He gentally laid her down and pulled the covers over her. He sat on a chair in her room and watched her sleep.

She woke up early the next morning to find that Gaara was not there. She walked out into the living room-no one-finally she looked in the kitchen to find Gaara staring at the stove. She walked beside him,

"_how do you turn this thing on?"_

Sakura couldn't help but laugh, just as she was about to tell him what to do there was a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it to find Temari, Kankuro, and Baki,

"_hey guys…"_

Baki smiled and asked,

"_Good morning Sakura…may we speak with Gaara please?"_

She smiled and nodded leading them into the kitchen. As they all sat at the table Sakura excused herself to the shower. She took a reasonably quick shower. Finally emerging to see Gaara pacing back and fourth,

"_What? What's the matter?"_

"_There is news that our Kazekage is very ill, we need to go back to Suna as soon as possible."_

Baki answered. Sakura nodded,

"_We'll I'll see you guys off…"_

She tried to smile the best she could but it was almost killing her. She felt her heart get shattered,

'_It was nice while it lasted…'_

Gaara however was not hiding his feelings what so ever, he looked like a mixture of sad and angry. They all walked through town running into Kakashi and Naruto who also tagged along to see them off. As they reached the gates Sakura exclaimed,

"_Well here we are…"_

Temari smiled and hugged her,

"_We'll be back sooner than you think…don't worry."_

Sakura just smiled weakly. Kankuro interupted,

"_Definatlly with cooking like that…"_

She laughed slightly, this was harder than she thought. Baki stood in front of her, leaning down to be at eye level with her,

"_Miss Haruno I do believe that this has been a pleasure. I thank you for everything especially with him…you have really changed him."_

He smiled. Gaara just stared off into the distance. Sakura could feel the tears coming to her eyes, she shook her head,

'_none of that…he'll be back…he wont forget me…I hope.'_

She walked over to him but before she could say anything he turned to her, taking her hand in his he stated,

"_Come with me Sakura…"_

Sakura stood shocked, over the past few months she had gotten to know Gaara very well and they had gotten very close, but she never would have expected this. She stood at the gates of her village in front of Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto had also got incredibly close with Gaara, he could feel that this (Sakura) was the first time Gaara felt this way for someone. As much as he loved Sakura he knew that she only thought of him as a protective friend, like a brother. He knew that he didn't have a chance with her. He smiled towards them,

"_Go ahead Sakura…"_

Sakura turned around to face him, he smiled that cute little kid smile that he was known for, sticking his thumb up at her.

"_We got everything under control here…"_

Naruto was interrupted by Kakashi,

"_A change would be good for you…and I'm positive that Gaara will protect you from the Akatsuki."_

As soon as that last word came out of his mouth Sakura tensed up,

"_They'll find me…no matter where I am…"_

She turned back to Gaara,

"_I don't want to put you in any danger…"_

Her eyes started to water. Gaara could feel his anger for the Akatskui rising, they were not going to keep Sakura from him. He took her face in his hand, leaning in he placed the most delicate kiss to her lips. Her eyes were wide from shock but she instantly melted in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Kankuro whistled, Temari giggled, and Baki just stood there with a smile plastered on his face,

'_You were right Kazekage…this was__ the best thing that we could have done for him-he's experiencing feeling, I think this girl has forever changed him.'_

He thought to himself.

As his lips departed Gaara pressed his forehead against her's while whispering,

"_I will never let them get to you…I will protect you…I promise you…you are…precious to me…Sakura…"_

Naruto smiled at his choice of words and was about to say something when someone cleared their throat, everyone turned…

"_Lady Tsuande…"_

Sakura bowed respectfully. Lady Tsunade smiled at the girl while walking up to her. She placed her hands on her shoulders raising her to take a look at her, she smiled sweetly at Sakura,

"_I remember raising you…every moment of it…I knew you had potential Sakura…when tragedy struck you kept your head held high and continued on. I know you do what you think is right for the people around you…but honey I want you to think about yourself…for once in your life put yourself first…I will support you all the way, like I always have and always will Sakura, you're like a daughter to me."_

Baki exclaimed,

"_Our Kazekage has wanted to meet you for a long time Sakura, he would be thrilled to see you. Especially now in the state that he is in."_

Lady Tsunade smiled,

"_Now Sakura your mission is to go to Suna and meet the Kazekage. Make peace between these two villages, help them. And return and visit me sometime."_

Sakura nodded and turned to Gaara,

"_okay…"_


	12. Suna

Chapter 12

The New Kazekage and

The Akaskui's Plan

Little did they know there were a pair of eyes studying their every move. Watching them from above on a tree branch watching as they walked through the village gates. He smirked at the scene before him as he disappeared. He reemerged in front of a cave making a hand sign to open the cave. Once he walked in and was met by Itachi and Kisame,

"_We have a problem."_

Meanwhile Sakura embarked on the journey to Suna along with Gaara and his team. Arriving in Suna Sakura met the first sand nin's other than the sand siblings. The two instantly were at her side one asked,

"_Do you need any help miss?"_

As he helped her with her bags. Sakura shook her head,

"_Thanks but I got it covered."_

The other nin stood in front of her, bending down slightly in order to see her face,

"_So what's your name beautiful?"_

Sakura just laughed at him,

"_Sakura…from Kohona."_

He instantly shot straight up,

"_Sakura Haruno?"_

She smiled and nodded at him, Temari walked over to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the two, and pushed her over to Gaara, which she stumbled into him.

"_Oh…um sorry.."_

Her face turned pink but he just smiled. Temari glared at the two nin and pointed to Sakura,

"_She's off limits…understood?"_

The two nodded, Temari could be very scary if she chose to be. Gaara took Sakura's hand in his and exclaimed,

"_Welcome to Suna…"_

She smiled up at him as Baki lead them off towards the hospital. As they arrived they were ushered in by a few nin. Walking into the hospital room Sakura could see a red headed man lying in pain. Sakura stopped in the doorway, she didn't know if she should go in. But as soon as she stopped the man looked at her,

"_Miss Haruno…please come in"_

She was shocked, how did he know her name? He smiled at her and replied,

"_I have heard a lot about you…"_

Sakura smiled as she walked in,

"_All good I hope…"_

He simply nodded at her, as soon as she was close enough to the bed he took her hand in his,

"_Miss Haruno I have heard that you have brought out someone who we haven't seen in a very long time…"_

As he looked at Gaara, she smiled and nodded,

"_That's what I hear…"_

"_Do you love him?"_

Sakura's face got bright red, she didn't think anyone heard that question. He smiled at her, seeming to know the answer, he motioned for Gaara to come to him, which he did and stood by Sakura. The kazekage smiled up at the two lovers. He cleared his throat.

"_Now that I am near the end it is my job to name a successor, and I have figured who I want. Gaara…would you take on this lifelong task and take care of this village…as Kazekage?"_

Everyone stood there wide eyed, is this real? Gaara nodded with the sternest face he could muster,

"_And of course Miss Haruno I would like you to work as the new Lord Kazekage's assistant…and help him with anything, be there for him throughout everything…can you do that for me?"_

Sakura looked at Gaara and smiled,

"_Of course."_

They both smiled,

"_And with that Gaara I name you the Fifth Kazekage…"_

In that moment he passed. They all bowed their heads in respect to him.

Back at the Akaskui's lair they all walked into a larger room which looked like a dining hall and went up to a long table. The boy with red hair stepped forward,

"_We have a problem."_

Everyone perked up at the mention of a problem.

"_What is it Sasori?"_

Sasori answered,

"_Sakura has moved to the Sand village of Suna…with a sand nin…Gaara, Suna's new Kazekage…"_

The man smirked,

"_This Gaara had annoyed me one too many times, we need to eliminate him long enough to grab the girl. And I know just how to do it."_


	13. Getting Serious

Chapter 13

Getting Serious Relationship

It has been about a week since Sakura came to Suna. She finally got settled and everything was looking good. Gaara had been named Kazekage and her his assistant. She didn't mind being put to work, it made her feel useful. Gaara was usually at the office a lot, there wasn't much work for her yet, so she would stay at his house and wait for him to come home.

That night when he walked through the door she could tell something was wrong but she didn't want to pry. She simply continued cooking, as she turned around to set the table she was spooked to find Gaara standing behind her. She gasped slightly dropping the dishes, luckily for her Gaara's sand caught them before shattering to the floor. Sakura chuckled nervously while picking the dishes up. As she continued to the table she asked,

"_Is something wrong?"_

Gaara just shook his head. She knew he was lying but she wasn't about to call him out on it. She finished setting the table and added,

"_Well how was your day? Busy as always Lord Kazekage?"_

She smiled up at him as she moved back to the stove. He smiled, she knew that he loved when she called him that, he nodded and replied,

"_as always…"_

She brought the food to the table and watched him sit down. The dinner conversation was light chit chat.

"_How was your day assistant?"_

She laughed,

"_It was alright, not much to do today, I got a little board, but I got a lot of cleaning done…"_

"_Well Miss Haruno what shall we do to prevent your boredom?"_

He smiled at her, she knew he was teasing her but she wasn't going to acknowledge it.

"_Well since you mentioned it Lord Kazekage…"_

He smiled at her feeling that she was about to walk right into his trap,

"_would it be possible…for me to volunteer my time to the hospital?"_

His smile faded slightly, that was not what he was expecting. The both had finished their meals at this point and were just staring at each other. She knew she got him, she smiled sweetly and continued,

"_Your answer to this question will determine your questions answer…"_

He couldn't help but laugh at her,

"_Well then my Dear Sakura if that is the case I do believe you know the answer to your question."_

With that a huge smiled came to her face. She stood up and took their plates to the sink. He thought she forgot his question or perhaps she didn't even know that he was about to suggest something until he felt her arms around his neck. He looked up at her only to be met with her beautiful bright green eyes and her gorgeous smile. She leaned down to him,

"_Thank you…Lord Kazekage…"_

She kissed him softly. He smiled into her kiss as tangled his hand in hair while the other rested on her face. She was so soft, he loved this feeling of being with her. Having her here with him, to know how precious she is to him and let her know in little instances like this was what kept him alive and happy. He lived his entire life not knowing this feeling and he wanted to savior it forever. She pulled away from him slightly just enough to so he could see her face. Her cheeks were a slight shade of pink. He just stared at her studying her features. Her face turned a darker pink as she got more self-conscious as he stared at her. She slowly went back to the sink and started to wash the dishes. What was this feeling? His body felt hot, like he needed to shower to cool down. All he wanted to do was to touch her, to feel her lips on his. Walking up behind her he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder, he sighed, breathing in her sent. He truly did love her. He wanted nothing more than to keep her happy. She knew how bad she wanted him and could sense how bad he wanted her but teasing him was so much fun. She continued with the dishes as he rubbed her stomach. She smiled slightly but was shocked once he spun her around and kissed her. She felt like jelly any time he touched her, kissed her, showed his feelings for her. She kissed him back with the same intensity and softness which he had. He couldn't help but hold her close to him. She placed her hands on his face pulling him into her. She closed her eyes enjoying the taste of him. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, picking her up. She gasped a little, wrapping her arms around his neck, he caught her by surprise, he had never done this. They had kissed a few times before but nothing this intense. He turned her around with him and started walking. She instinctly wrapped her legs around his waist, causing a low cowl to escape his lips. He walked them over to the table, placing her down he kissed her more passionately than he had ever before. She laid back slightly his hands on her back keeping her from falling. She pulled his shirt making him come to her, as she laid flat on the table. They were both so preoccupied with the situation that they didn't hear the door open. All of a sudden Kankuro cleared his throat. Sakura sat up instantly going bright red. She stood up and quickly excused herself to the bathroom. Kankuro whistled,

"_Now I understand why you wanted her to stay with you and not Temari."_

Gaara glared at him,

"_what do you want Kankuro?"_

Kankuro smiled,

"_The meeting is about to start.."_

Gaara nodded,

"_I will be there in a moment."_

As he turned to walk away Kankuro replied,

"_ok…I'll let you two finish…"_

He chuckled slightly as a sand bolt knocked him out the door and closed it. Gaara slowly walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door…no answer.

"_Sakura…"_

No reply again,

"_I am sorry…I didn't mean to…"_

Sakura opened the door slowly and laughed,

"_Oh my gosh that was embarrassing…"_

She cleared her throat and added,

"_It's alright…ah well you better go to your meeting. I'll clean up everything here…I'll see you when you get home."_

He smiled at her and hugged her close to him. She hugged him back while whispering,

"_I will see you when you return my Kazekage…"_

She leaned up and kissed him softly. He was a bit shocked, hers. He smiled as he headed out the door, closing it behind him. Hers. He liked the sound of that.


	14. The Akaskui Attack

Chapter 14

The Akaskui's Attack

Gaara returned that night to find Sakura had fallen asleep on the couch. He noticed her. She did say that she would wait up for him, but she didn't know how long she would have to stay awake. His mind weighted heavily on the meeting which just took place. Gaara had been told that the Akaskui have been on the move and that his general had placed ABNU black ops around the city in order to protect the people, although Gaara knew that they weren't after the people, they were after Sakura.

He frowned as he picked her up gently not wanting to wake her and walked her to the bedroom, placing her softly on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He was about to walk away when her hand shot out and grabbed his shirt. He turned sharply and looked at her, she was barly awake. She smiled at him,

"_How was the meeting?"_

She asked quietly, her voice dripping with the exaustion which was threatening to overtake her. He wasn't going to tell her what was said,

"_It went well, now go back to bed Sakura, you look exausted…"_

She smiled swetly up at him and replied,

"_You look tired yourself Gaara…you should join me…"_

As her eyelids futtered shut. He smiled down at her, knowing she wasn't going to fully fall asleep until he was there, the only reason he thought this was because she still gripped his shirt.

He just shook his head lightly as he climbed into bed with her. He would never get used to how much he was truly attracted to her, especially at night, seeing as she just looked so peaceful. She was wearing a pair of black shorts, a long black shirt, and his red robe. He loved how she looked in his cloths. She pulled him close to her and rested her head on his chest, which he gladly played with her hair for a while until she finally fell aslepp. He knew something was coming, and he was ready for it, it was coming, now…

He lightly moved her off of him in order to get out from under her, noting that she was alseep he snuck out the balcony door and noticed a white bird flying above the city. He knew it was them. Studying the man he believed that he was Dediara, just by the blond hair. He stood on his balcony watching as Dediara fell onto it right in front of him,

"_Infultration complete…"_

He said softly,

"_That's as far as you go…"_

Gaara grumbled. He was prepared to kill him right there but Deidara started feeding his mouth hands clay, Gaara instantly went on the offensive and sends his sand after the one who he knows is coming to take her away. Deidara jumped onto his bird and began flying all throughout the village as Gaara's sand kept right behind him. Just when Deidara thought that he is in the clear, he's attacked from all sides. Deidara is a bit surprised that Gaara was able to notice him so quickly,

"_How did you know I was an intruder?"_

Gaara replies

"_birds like that don't come in this desert."_

Gaara jumped onto a pillar of sand that begins to ascend into the air until he is level with Deidara. Gaara summoned a large wave of sand and tried to overtake Deidara. Deidara creates several exploding clay birds Gaara's sand chases him. The birds, once sent, detonate on various areas of the sand. Gaara finally just concealed himself within his ultimate defense and the third eye on the outside, watching Deidara. Suddenly, Deidara notices that he has sand coming at him from all sides. But he manages to dodge, Gaara was trying to catch Deidara

"_You are not going to take her away from me…"_

Was all he said as his sand caught hold of Deidara's arm and crushed it with his Desert Coffin justu.

Deidara nearly unfazed pulled his best move out of his bag, literally. It is a big mold of clay that looks like a bird with a mournful face and no feet. He exclaimes,

"_We will find her, if we she doesn't come out we will just destroy the entire town until she is located."_

Gaara just shook his head and attempted again to capture him in sand when he noticed someone standing on the balcony,

"_Sakura…"_

He whispered. Deidara turned his attention to the balcony and noticed the pink haired Kenoichi. He smirked,

"_She's even better than I imagined…"_

He chuckled slightly and whispered,

"_Found her."_

Gaara knew that he was an informant. He focused all his effort into a sand coffin engulfing him in it. But he quickly disappeared. Sakura stood at the balcony, she knew they had come for her. She ran into the bathroom and quickly changed into her fighting attire, running back out of the room, down the stairs and outside. As soon as she reached the door it was pushed in by Temari, they both gasped at eachother,

"_We need to help him!"_

Sakura exclaimed,

"_No we need to get you out of here…"_

Temari grabbed her arm, Saakura pulled it away from her,

"_I wont let him die because of me…"_

As she ran towards the center of the village. Temari sighed and tried to follow her but was stopped by a shot of water to her face. When she came to she saw Kisame standing above her,

"_She knows what she has to do. Don't get in her way…"_

Was all he said before he disapeared. Sakura stood directly below Deidara, focusing her chakra into her fists smashing them into the ground,

"_earth style! Wood Prision!"_

Wood shot up and made a box around Deidara, he hadn't even noticed she was there, he almost got trapped, but he jumped off his bird, making the bird get captured, not him, as he landed on the ground in front of Sakura. She stared at him. Again focusing her chakra into her fist she lunged at him, punching him in the face and sending him flying. She wasn't paying attention behind her, Kisame appeared and hit her over the head knocking her out instantly. Gaara yelled,

"_Sakura No!"_

As he quickly sent his hand to her but it was too late, they were gone.


	15. Itachi's Promise

Chapter 15

Itachi's Promise

Kisame and Deidara tied up Sakura before bring her anywhere, Deidara couldn't feel his face, she hit him hard enough to break some bones, his face looked like a balloon. Kisame kept laughing at him. Sakura came to as they got to their hide out. Deidara opened the cave and went to go ice his face, not like that would help, while Kisame pushed a tied up Sakura into the main room, once inside she notices a long table with three men sitting at it, Itachi, Zestu, and Hidan. Aside from the table all the members of the Akatskui were scattered about the room. Each one of them instantly stopped what they were doing and focused on the pink haired kunoichi in front of them. Sakura fought the entire way as Kisame dragged her to the front of the table.

Stopping at the beginning of the table… Sakura glared up at the men who sat in front of her. Each one of them had a smirk plastered on their faces. Hidan stood up and walked around the table. Reaching the front of it he placed his hand on Sakura's chin forcing her to look at him. She almost growled at this man which just made his smirk grow larger.

"_Don't touch me!"_

She spat at the man, she didn't think it was possible for a smirk to grow that much, he gripped her chin and pulled her up so she was standing. He turned around and exclaimed,

"_Not bad Itachi huh? I think she will make a great woman for you."_

Itachi smirked and nodded, Sakura grumbled,

"_In your dreams!"_

Hidan turned back around to face her and exclaimed,

"_Believe me when I say this Sakura,You will learn to like it here."_

He looked back up at Kisame and nodded, he nodded back and smirked as he pulled Sakura back outside of the room. Everyone in the room was silent until she left, after that everyone cheered their opinions about having a Kunoichi with them.

Kisame lead her downstairs to a dungeon of some sort. Latching her in cuffs to the wall. She tried to break free,

"_These are immune to your chakra Sakura…you won't be able to punch your way out of these…"_

Once he said that the torturing began.

A few hours or so later Kisame left her, battered and bruised. She instantly was over taken by darkness. Not long after she was woken up by the sound of the door opening again, she tensed up at the thought of going through the same thing again. She closed her eyes, tears welding in them but was met with a hand to her chin. She opened her eyes to see Itachi, smirk plastered to his face he lifted the woman's face to meet his gaze. He chuckled,

"_Are you ready to be civil Sakura?"_

She couldn't help but tense at her name coming out of his mouth, she didn't really have much of a choice. She nodded, he smirked letting a slight chuckle escape his lips. He unlatched the cuffs of her wrists which held her up to the wall, once he did she instantly fell into his arms. He picked her up bridal style and led her upstairs past a few different rooms until they reached a dark red door entering into a black room. She couldn't do anything she was so physically drained, the most she could do was to grab onto Itachi's cloak in order to keep her head from rocking. Once he closed the door to the room he lit a faint candle while still cradling Sakura in his arms. He walked her over to the bed and gently laid her down, she had no idea that he could possibly be this gentle. He put the blankets over her slightly before climbing into bed next to her. She did not have any energy left to protest. She instantly was engrossed in darkness.

Eyes fluttering open she moved her hands up to cover the light from her eyes but was instantly reminded of the pain. She tensed up again while noticing no one was in the room with her.

'_I have enough chakra left to heal myself'_

She let her chakra flow to her hand sighing in relief when she felt the pain slowly subside. Her thoughts were interrupted once she looked down to her clothing, black cloak with red clouds,

'_No way! I will never be one of them!'_

She stood up quickly only to have the door to the room open.

"_Good you're awake…and you healed yourself, outstanding, your chakra abilities are better than we expected."_

Sakura felt nothing but hatred for this man and everything he stood for but she knew that she would never be able to make it out of here alive if she upset him. His skills were legendary, he could kill her in a second, a million times worse than what Kisame did. She didn't even know what to say, what would talking accomplish? There wasn't anything that she really wanted to know from this man, not like he would tell her the truth anyway.

"_That robe will be yours for the time being, your own has not been finished yet, we do not carry woman's robes…"_

She just glared at him. He chuckled at her as he stretched out his hand for her,

"_Come with me Sakura…"_

She just looked at him like he was insane.

"_I won't hurt you Sakura…. Just come with me, there is something I want you to see…"_

She walked over to him, ignoring his hand she motioned for him to lead the way. He smirked,

"_Alright…I know you don't trust me…but eventually you will trust me Sakura I promise you that."_

"_Your right…I don't trust you…"_

As she walked in front of him. He smirked as he followed her, she went through a few halls looking around, he could sense she was looking for someone, but he couldn't figure out who. She stopped walking as she spotted the target of her anger. Itachi stood behind her and his smirk starting turning slightly into a smile when he saw who she had been looking for. She marched up behind this giant shark man, all the others in the room had noticed her except him. Deidara smirked, he knew what was going to happen. Sasori and Zetsu just looked back and forth between Sakura and Itachi. Sakura poked Kisame's shoulder. As he turned around Sakura focused every ounce of chakra into her fist, she was going to make this count. He turned around slightly just to have a face to fist meeting. She smirked as he flew through the wall. Deidara bust out laughing,

"_Now you know how I feel!"_

Sakura just glared at him, he pretended not even to notice. Itachi had the biggest smirk plastered on his face,

"_Nice temper…"_

She just looked at him, with the straightest face she replied,

"_He had it coming…"_

Itachi just laughed smiling down at her. He knew that she was perfect. Everyone turned to the door to see Hidan walk in. He simply looked at everybody and laughed.

"_I'm glad you're awake. Have you seen around your new home yet?"_

Sakura just shook her head no. Not like she really wanted to. He simply smirked at her,

"_I told you, I promised you that you would like it here. And I intend to keep my promise. You will have anything you wish don't hesitate to ask."_

She smiled lightly up at him. Although she knew that she didn't like him he was probably the only one who remotely cared about her. She figured to just play along otherwise she would be dead by morning.

Sakura knew she wasn't going to trust anybody, but she didn't have to trust them in order to survive.

Back in Suna Gaara was making everybody nervous by pacing around his house all day. Nobody had ever seen him like this before starting to get them.

"_I understand what you're going through I really do… But nothing good is going to come about with you just standing here. We need to get back up and we need it fast if we don't soccer will be dead for you even get her."_

He simply glared at her knowing full well that she didn't understand what he was going through. With that Baki stepped into the conversation,

"_actually quite the opposite they need her for something, they wouldn't have gone through this much trouble if they were just going to kill her or her powers are stronger than you think if they get a hold of them and mix it with their powers they will be unstoppable."_


	16. Deidara's Advice

Chapter 16

Deidara's Advice

Hidan ushered Itachi to follow him,

"_I will have Deidara watch her for a while, it seems that they are already acquainted."_

As he laughed, Itachi smirked and he walked over to Sakura, putting his head next to her ear,

"_Don't beat him up to bad, or his partner will be upset with you…"_

As he pointed to Sasori,

"_Does it look like I care?"_

Sakura retorted angrily, he shook his head and grabbed her arm harshly,

"_I will make you care Sakura, and believe me you don't want that… Don't talk back to me"_

She pulled her arm away from him, glaring at him. He smirked as he turned and followed Hidan. Deidara was at her side in a second. He exclaimed,

"_How about a walk around your new town?"_

Sakura couldn't tell if he was serious,

"_Uh sure…"_

He smiled and offered her his arm. She figured that although this guy annoyed her to the core he wasn't a threat to her. She took his arm and they headed out. He was blabbing about anything and everything, about how she had a deadly upper hand, she just laughed at him, not like she didn't already know this but it was funny to think that an Akatsuki member would tell her, her strengths. She just smiled, she figured she was going to like this guy. He brought her to a cliff and urged her to sit down, taking a seat on a bolder she looked up at him.

"_Listen to me Sakura, I know that this situation is new to you but I promise you I won't hurt you, I am simply here to warn you…Itachi is not a force to be reckoned with, and I am telling you this for your safety, don't cross him, or get him angry…he won't kill you because he needs you. No what he does will be a million times worse than what Kisame did…"_

She winced at the realization that he could have easily killed her but he didn't, she could only imagine what Itachi would have done to her.

"_Why are you telling me this? What does it concern you?"_

He smiled slightly,

"_That will come in time but I am telling you because I need you to trust me, I will protect you as much as I can from him but you must not egg it on Sakura, you have no idea what he is capable of."_

She nodded smiling up at him,

"_This is like a secret alliance huh? I think we should make a pack on it…"_

She giggled, he just looked at her with a confused expression as she out stretched her pinky,

"_Pinky swear you'll protect me…and I will trust you…"_

He laughed at how childish she sounded,

"_Sure sure…"_

Their pinky's locked as they agreed to a secret alliance. She laughed, she didn't know why she decided to act like she was five but it was working to her advantage he had promised to protect her, and that was what she needed. He smiled at her while realizing how much time they had been away from everyone, he exclaimed,

"_We should start heading back before they start bugging me."_

She smiled and nodded, standing up and following him back to her new home.

As they entered the hide out Sakura just kept her head down, before she went any further Deidara stopped,

"_Last few things…he thrives on fear, cower in front of him, see what happens. As soon as you understand that you can manipulate him anytime, also compliment him, he loves to hear how amazing he is, give into him sometimes it'll drive him crazy, these are good tools to keep under your belt."_

She nodded up at him,

"_Thanks…"_

Just as she spoke Itachi appeared beside Deidara, he turned and smiled,

"_Speak of the devil…"_

He said with a laugh, he patted Itachi's shoulder,

"_She's all yours man…"_

As he walked away a smirk grew on his face, no one knew what he was planning and he'd like to keep it that way, he believed he could trust Sakura because under this circumstance she needed him as much as he needed her. Itachi tried to smile at her,

"_How was your day?"_

She looked at him like he was crazy…

"_Is Itachi Uchia trying to make small talk?"_

He smirked down at her,

"_Humph…so what if I am?"_

She just giggled up at him,

"_It was alright…"_

He nodded as he grabbed hold of her hand and led her inside,

"_How was yours?"_

She asked, he laughed at her,

"_Alright…alright, now come this way we have stuff to talk about."_

She simply nodded at him and followed him into the dining room, it was only three of them in the room, Sakura, Itachi, and Hidan. She looked around confused, Hidan just motioned her to sit down, which of course she did.

"_Now Sakura I know this is going to be difficult but you have to get accustomed to it, I'm sending you on one of our missions along with Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, and Deidara. You're going to visit a town close by there is a small group there, which are associated with Orochimaru, I know you've heard of him…"_

She simply nodded at him understanding full well how she knew him, he had gotten to one of her teammates before Sasuke and was determined to get the other Naruto. It was clear to almost anyone that she had ever been in contact with that she truly despised them, Orochimaru and his brood of hellions, specifically Kabuto. It was clear that she was getting angry they could tell just by the look on her face she truly despised these people, both the Akatskui and Orochimaru. She was going to love going to battle against him though, she knew that she would be protected by the Akatskui so she wouldn't worry but she was going to enjoy killing Kabuto more. She smirked up at the man and nodded, she was going to make him suffer as much as he meet her, she was going to love this.

She hurried to pack up, she didn't have a lot to pack but she was determined to get everything. She was rushing around the house, true she didn't know where everything was yet but she was so hyped to she wasn't even going to ask for help. Itachi sat on the couch beside Kisame and just watched her run around, Kisame looked at Itachi,

"_What the hell is she doing?"_

Itachi just smirked,

"_Getting ready to go on our mission with us tomorrow…"_

"_How can we trust her? How do we know how she'll react to them?"_

"_Trust me my friend, She hates them as much if not more than she hates you…"_

He said with a laugh as he watched her rush upstairs, he smirked and followed her. He walked up to the room and walked in. She had just walked into the bathroom and shut the door. He smirked as he heard the water running. She hadn't yet gotten any cloths of her own so he knew she had stolen some of his, which he told her to do, so it wasn't really stealing. He loved how she looked in his cloths. She breathed in the steam from the water, it felt amazing to have a shower again. She decided to take a fairly long shower, not knowing when she was going to be able to take another one. About an hour later she emerged from the steam filled bathroom. Itachi just lay on the bed with a book in his hand, she hadn't noticed if he had noticed her but she didn't care anyway, she gathered up her dirty cloths and stood there. He chuckled slightly as he looked up at her. She looked at him confused, he sighed,

"_As much as I love you in my cloths I do think you may feel more comfortable in something more your size…"_

She laughed,

"_What made you think that? Was it the fact that your pants can fit two of me in them or how your shirt looks like a dress?"_

He laughed as he stood up and walked over to her,

"_No it was more like…"_

He took the sides of the shirt and pulled it tight against her body, looking down slightly at her chest,

"_these…"_

She pushed him away slightly, but he was stronger than she was, he smirked, taking her chin in his hand.

"_Miss Haruno, I believe that you need some support for these. I don't want the guys to stare at you and get distracted during our…mission…tomorrow. Besides I am very possessive of my things…"_

She glared at him as he stared into her bright green eyes,

"_And you are mine…"_

She was about to freak out on him when she remembered what Deidara told him,

'_Give into him.'_

She just looked into his eyes, as she repressed her anger and whispered,

"_I'm yours…"_

His smirk grew bigger,

"_Mine."_

As he took her in his arms and kissed her harshly. She was surprised to say the least at just how well giving into him worked to surpress his anger. She smiled into his kiss and wondered just how far she could make this go. She put her hands on his face and kissed him back softly, he simply picked her up and laid her down gentaly on the bed climbing on top of her. Just as he placed another harsh kiss to her lips the door was thrown open, Kisame stared at the scene before him. Itachi turned around to him and glared. Kisame smirked throwing his hands up,

"_Sorry…"_

He whispered as he shut the door. Sakura giggled slightly, Itachi looked back down at her, she just smiled up at him, leaning up and kissing him softly, he relaxed again as she pushed him down slowly, he smirked as she climbed on top of him, straddling him slightly she leaned down and placed one last kiss to his lips before sitting up. He simply looked at her, wondering why she had stopped, she looked down at him and smiled,

"_If we don't hurry the shops are gonna be closed…"_

He laughed at her but before he could pull her back down to him she was off him wrapping herself in one of his cloaks. He laughed,

"_Which reminds we, yours should be ready in the morning,"_

as he pointed to the robe. She laughed at him as the headed out. Kisame whistled as they walked by, Itachi smirked at him not wanting to focus his attention on him, they walked by Deidara frowned,

"_You can't even tell you're a woman under that thing…it's a shame…"_

Sakura threw the first thing she could find, a rock on the floor, he dogged as she laughed and walked out the door followed by Itachi. That night was funny to her, everything had happened had made her understand everything that she could do, everything in her power to manipulate this man, these people was right there at her fingertips. She was going to get out of here, she was going to get back to Gaara, she just needed time to figure out how. The time they got back she had a few new outfits, and some toiletries. She was excited. She packed everything up, set out her cloths for the next morning and went to bed. She was ready.


	17. Kakashi's Secret Weapon: Pakku!

Chapter 17

Kakashi's Secret Weapon:

Pakku

Gaara had arrived in Konoha to try and gather enough people and information needed to go after Sakura. He spoke with Lady Tsunade only to become more upset than he was when he arrived. He had been told to wait at least five times, Temari could see that he was getting upset, she herself was getting mad, the fact that she didn't stop Sakura was still eating her. She stood up and walked over to the receptionist,

"_This is ridiculous! We need to see the hokage now!"_

She screamed. With that Tsunade herself opened her office door,

"_What is going on out here?"_

Temari started

"_Sakura's been taken…by…"_

Tsunade shook her head, fear visibly plastered on her face, she looked at her receptionist and yelled,

"_Get Kakashi and his team here now!"_

She usured Gaara and his team into her office and asked them to fill her in on everything, Temari hadn't told Gaara what had happened between her and Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi came bursting in the room,

"_Tell me this didn't happen!"_

Naruto yelled, Tsunade quieted him with a wave of her hand and urged Temari to continue,

"_Well…..umm, Sakura heard what was going on, I went to go get her to keep her safe but she wouldn't listen to me, I told her she needed to get out of here but the only thing she said to me was 'I won't let him die because of me'…"_

Gaara's eyes flashed at her, she knew that what Sakura said was going to kill him, he had never had someone care for him enough to die for him. She looked up him only to see his eyes start to water. He shook his head,

"_What can we do? I need to get her back, anything you could do to help me would be greatly appreciated, please…"_

Kankuro stared at Gaara, he was begging, pleading for help.

"_I'm not sure what I can do…not many nin will go up against the Akatskui-let alone survive."_

_Lady Tsunade replied, as she finished Kakashi stepped forward,_

"_I know how to find her…"_

_Lady Tsunade stood in shock,_

"_Well what have you been waiting for a written invitation? Out with it Kakashi we do not have time for your games!"_

_Kakashi nodded forming a hand sign. A burst of smoke appeared in front of him, disappearing to revel Pakku. Pakku looked up at him questioning the reasons for his summons, Kakashi simply knelt down to eye level with the pooch,_

"_We need to find Sakura…and fast…"_

_Pakku smiled slightly at hearing his favorite kunoichi's name, he nodded,_

"_She beating you in hide and seek again-been awhile since you two played that game…"_

_He laughed, everyone stared at the legendary copy nin. Kakashi shook his head, clearing his throat he replied,_

"_Uhh no…she has been taken by the Akatskui…"_

_Pakku straightened up,_

"_Well this isn't good…"_

"_No kidding captain obvious!"_

_Shouted Naruto, Pakku simply glared at him,_

"_since when did you know such big words idiot…"_

_Naruto got angry instantly, rushing to the pooch only to be stopped by a bolt of sand, smashing him into the wall, everyone looked at Gaara,_

"_We do not have time for your stupidity Naruto…now you dog…Kakashi says you can find her…is that true?"_

_Pakku was about to have a snappy retort but something in his mind told him not to, that he wouldn't get away with it. He simply nodded,_

"_I'll find her-I am the true seeker at hide and seek…"_

"_When will you let that go? It was forever ago and it was only once!"_

_Kakashi blurted. Lady Tsunade brushed him off turning back to a smiling Pakku,_

"_We need to find her and fast-she is in danger…"_

_Pakku nodded, she turned back to Gaara,_

"_Follow Pakku-Naruto and Kakashi will accompany you, I will send reinforcements as needed…"_

_As she handed Kakashi a scroll,_

"_This will serve as a portal, use it when you need help and I will send nin though it,"_

_As she held up an identical one. Kakashi nodded,_

"_Pakku do you have her scent?"_

_Pakku nodded,_

"_She's all over him…why else do you think I didn't bite him for calling me dog…"_

_As he looked over towards Gaara, everyone simply smiled inwardly, not wanting to smile at the severity of the situation but at the fact that it was true. Gaara was wearing the same robe Sakura had on the night she was taken. Pakku stood up,_

"_Try and keep up…"_

_He replied, and with that they were off._


	18. Orochimaru's New Henchmen

Chapter 18

Orochimaru's New Henchmen:

Team Sasuke

As Sakura woke up the next morning she quickly got dressed. She was ready to go, she wore a black tank top with black shorts,

She studied herself in the mirror, thinking what she had been through and where she was. Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door. Hidan walked in and ushered her out,

"_Come now Sakura…your uniform is ready."_

Sakura walked down to the living room and stopped,

"_Are you serious? I'll look like a doll! I'll never be able to move in that!"_

Hidan simply shook his head,

"_Sakura this has been designed to sustain your needs in battle-you will be able to move."_

Sakura groaned, grabbing the outfit away from him and moving to the bathroom. She emerged to find everyone waiting for her. Itachi smirked his approval to Hidan. Deidara exclaimed,

"_I can tell you're a woman now!"_

Sakura shot him a glare, she was going to punch him, but came to the conclusion that there was enough distance between them that he could easily dodge, instead she savored the idea of punching him in the future.

"_Let's go already…"_

Grumbled Sasori from the corner of the room.

"_Impatient as always Sasori."_

Replied Deidara as he shook his head. Sakura nodded her agreement to Sasori while double checking that she had everything. The five of them gathered their things and headed out.

It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination, an open field. As they stepped out they came face to face with the people they expected to find. Sakura stopped short as she noted one who she was not expecting,

"_Sasuke…"_

She breathed, he had noted her as well, staring intensely at her. Before she had time to react Itachi was at her side, putting his arm around her shoulder he pulled her into him, not saying a word simply smirking at Sasuke. Sasuke got angry quickly, not even trying to hide it he yelled,

"_Why is she here? Why do you have her? Sakura why are you with them? With him?"_

Sasuke's team had noted his sudden jump in hostility towards a certain akatskui member, noting the cause of the spark was the pink haired woman. Tears swelled in her eyes,

"_It's not by choice believe me…"_

She cried but was cut off as Itachi tightened his grip on her whispering,

"_That's enough of that."_

The woman standing behind Sasuke mumbled,

"_So that is Sakura, hump! What does she have that I don't Sasuke?"_

Completely ignoring the red headed girl he yelled,

"_Get your hands off her!"_

His eyes flashing red as his sharingan was activated. Itachi smirked,

"_Touchy touchy…what's the matter brother? Mad that I have the one woman that you tried so hard to get but never could. You are still an insignificant weakling, inferior to me in every way possible…"_

Itachi smirked turning Sakura to him,

"_I am possessive of my things…isn't that right Sakura?"_

She simply nodded, his smirk growing,

"_And?"_

She closed her eyes in defeat,

"_I am yours…"_

She whispered. Kisame laughed turning to Sasuke

"_Hear that boy?"_

Sasuke was now seething, shaking with rage. He was about to attack when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned his head to find Kabuto. Kabuto smiled turning his attention back to Itachi's. Smirking at him his eyes drifted to Sakura. Studying her his smirk softened,

"_My dear Miss. Haruno…I do believe that we are fighting the same enemy…"_

As his eyes focused on Itachi and the other Akatskui members, looking back at her he noted curiosity in her eyes, he smiled,

"_Join us…you will be protected from them..and not have to wear that horrid outfit into battle…"_

Sakura simply smiled, giggling slightly at the clothing reference. Before she could reply Itachi gripped her tighter to him, but didn't say anything. Kabuto smirked at him, before he had a chance to say anything Sasuke chuckled,

"_What's wrong brother? Afraid she will chose me over you? The man who killed her family…"_

Those last words struck her hard. She gasped, clutching her chest. She couldn't breathe, closing her eyes as tears swelled in them, she clutched the locket around her neck. Deidara glared at Sasuke,

'_Why would he do that? Say something so hurtful for her to remember. I understand hating Itachi, I hate him too but that was more hurtful to her.'_

Before Sasuke could say anything else Itachi grabbed Sakura pulling her behind him while activating his sharingan,

"_Fire style, fire ball justu!"_

As fire shot from his mouth he blew it towards Sasuke and the others. They quickly got out of the way. Kabuto nodded at Sasuke as they shared an unspoken plan. Sasuke took on Itachi, never letting him out of his sight, while Kabuto motioned for an orange haired man to take on Kisame, he nodded in reply and charged Kisame, which of course Kisame was completely ready for him. The red headed girl instead of waiting to be told rushed at Sasori, leaving Kabuto with either Deidara or Sakura. He motioned for a blonde haired boy to get Sakura. Kabuto grabbed him hard before he moved to kill her,

"_Do not injure her…do you understand me? We need to take her back with us, She is needed for my plan."_

The man simply nodded as he headed towards Sakura, just as Kabuto looked back as a spider bomb a jumped on his face. Deidara smirked as he made a hand sign, just as he was about to make the bomb explode, Kabuto made a sign with which made him disappear. The blonde man approached Sakura, she wasn't going to be kidnapped again, she focused her chakra into her fist punching the ground, crumbling it to pieces. The man jumped in the air, amazed at her strength. Kabuto appeared behind Sakura, pricking a key point on the back of her neck making her eyes flutter shut, her mind engulfed in darkness. The red headed girl along with the orange haired man rushed to Kabuto as he held the fainted girl in his arms bridal style. Itachi hadn't noticed until Deidara exclaimed,

"_No!"_

Itachi turned quickly to see Deidara rush towards the crew only to have them disappear before his eyes. Itachi turned to face Sasuke. Sasuke smirked at him,

"_So long brother…"_

As he disappeared.


	19. New Team

Chapter 19

New Team

As Sakura came too she noted she was in a log type home, a cozy cabin. She smiled slightly as she buried her head in the pillow. Sun was trickling through the window. She felt so at peace, she rolled over to find Sasuke asleep in a chair beside the bed. All of a sudden realization hit her. Everything that happened came flooding back to her. She smiled at the fact that she was away from the akatsuki, she looked down at her outfit, she would never wear this again. She smiled as she stood up, quickly looking around for any form of clothing, opening a few drawers she noted they were probably Sasuke's cloths, but she didn't care at this point cloths were cloths. She grabbed them up and turned around studying her surroundings, trying to find a bathroom. Not seeing one in the room she headed towards the door, slowly opening it, smiling as she did not wake Sasuke, he always was a heavy sleeper. She quietly walked through the door, closing it softly behind her. She began exploring. Wandering down the hall she noted there were four other doors, probably for the four other people she encountered. She didn't want to find out, she walked into an open room which was much brighter than the room she was in, due to the lack of shades. She squinted slightly hearing a low chuckle,

"_Glad to see you're awake…"_

A familiar voice stated. She looked around eyes finally meeting the person who the noise came from, Kabuto. She smiled slightly while adding,

"_I am debating on whether I should kill you for kidnapping me or hug you for getting me away from them."_

He simply laughed,

"_Well I would prefer the second…"_

She smiled as she sat down on the other side of the couch. He closed the book he was reading and looked at her. She rested her head in her hands. He smiled at her, she was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her. She had grown into a gorgeous woman. Independent, powerful, strong, smart, all around perfect. He knew the true depths of her powers which he was sure she didn't know about. He would have to show her, help her unleash her true powers, he needed her powers to be present in order for his plan to work. Her abilities would be essential to their clan. She rubbed her eyes as she laid her head back against the back of the couch, he could tell she was still tired, but she wasn't going to admit it to him, nor to herself. She stood up and asked,

"_Where is the bathroom?"_

Kabuto smiled and pointed to a door behind him while adding,

"_I went to the market while you were sleeping and took the liberty of getting you some decent clothing, feel free to shower."_

He smiled up at her as he opened his book up again. She looked shocked,

"_Why did you do that?"_

He looked back up at her,

"_Sakura I want you to stay here, so I obviously would do anything to make you feel comfortable, besides those cloths are just purely horrid."_

She smiled at him while giggling,

"_Agreed. I hate them too."_

She walked over to the bathroom and closed the door, not noting the other girl who had emerged from the room behind her. The girl was clearly not pleased with Sakura being there. She grumbled to herself as she sat down on a chair in front of Kabuto.

"_I don't understand why we had to take her here, I think we should have just left her with those skumbags…"_

Kabuto didn't look up from his book or anything he simply replied,

"_And give up her powers? No we need her."_

She rolled her eyes,

"_Fine I'll just get rid of her myself…"_

As she stood up and walked towards the bathroom, without missing a beat Kabuto was standing directly in front of her. He grabbed her arm forcefully, she winced. He glared at her while adding,

"_You will not touch her do you understand me?"_

He half yelled. She nodded slowly. He loosened his grip on her as he added,

"_Trust me Karin we need her. Don't worry Sasuke is all yours, I promise you that. She is mine…"_

The girl simply smiled at the fact that he said that Sasuke was hers.

"_Besides…she hates the Uchia's anyway."_

Karin nodded again, relaxing she sat back down. The other group members came out into the room one by one, except Sasuke. Sakura emerged from the bathroom shortly after they came in the room. They all looked at her. She smiled awkwardly at them, before she could say or do anything else Karin was in front of her, embracing her lightly,

"_Nice to meet you! Names Karin…I think we are going to be best friends."_

Sakura just laughed slightly, not knowing what else to do. Kabuto shook his head at the girl, it was funny what a few simple words did for her emotions.

"_What's got her in such a good mood?"_

The orange haired man asked. Kabuto simply raised his hand up to him dismissing his question while shaking his head. Karin smirked slightly while pulling Sakura over to the couch, pushing her down right on top of Kabuto. It wasn't as much of a shock to Kabuto as it was for Sakura, he readied himself for the impact, which wasn't much, seeing as Sakura was very petite. She on the other hand turned instantly red. Sasuke emerged from the room rubbing his eyes, but stopped short as he noted Sakura. Kabuto saw Sasuke but chose not to acknowledge his presence. Karin smiled at her while adding,

"Well let me introduce you to your new team…"

Sakura was about to interrupt but Karin left very little time for it,

"_This guy over here's name is __Suigetsu, he loves his swards and uses mainly water style justus."_

As she pointed to a white haired man, he nodded at her while showing a slight smile. She smiled back at him. Karin moved slowly over to the man with orange hair,

"_This brute is Jugo, he is usually very mellow but don't get him angry because you will probably not walk away from him alive."_

He looked down at the ground, he didn't like he boasting about the fact that he kills people. He stood up and was about to walk away when he stopped short, a grimace plastered on his face. Sakura jumped to her feet, not even noticing the confusion on everyone's faces. She placed her hand on Jugo's shoulder and exclaimed,

"_You're alright, please sit back down."_

He was confused himself but did as he was told. Sakura crouched in front of him, noting it was his stomach which was the cause of the pain. Instead of asking him to remove his shirt she simply lifted it over his head, revealing a large gash. She grimaced slightly while adding,

"_You fought Kisame?"_

He nodded down at her,

"_How could you tell?"_

Sakura smiled sweetly up at him while standing up, she raised the arm of her shirt to reveal a much smaller gash,

"_He gave me the same…"_

Everyone just stared at her, Suigetsu questioned,

"_He tried to kill you?"_

She shook her head as she turned to Suigetsu,

"_No…I believe he was trying to scare me into doing as I was told…and I believe that it worked…"_

She turned back to Jugo and stated,

"_I can heal you, but there will be a small scar much like mine, and it will sting a bit at first. Do you want me to?"_

He smiled sweetly up at her as he nodded, he had never had someone ask him if he wanted anything. She smiled and nodded as she crouched down so that she was eye level with his wound. She focused her chakra into her hand, causing it to glow. Jugo moved a little, she gently placed her other hand on him and exclaimed,

"_I won't hurt you,"_

He nodded down at her closing his eyes. She touched her hand to his wound. He hissed in pain, she kept her other hand on him, which comforted him beyond anything he had ever known before. The pain started to vanish along with the gash. Suigetsu stared on in disbelief,

'_This is impossible…Kisame's sward is drenched in poison, how can she dissolve it without any need for preparation?'_

Sakura closed her eyes as her mind was starting to spin, she had forgotten how weak she had been since the other day. She started to fall, Sasuke rushed towards her, along with Kabuto, but both failed to reach her as Jugo grabbed hold of her, seconds before her head met the ground. She opened her eyes slowly,

"_Sorry I forgot how low my chakra level was…"_

She added with a little laugh. He smiled down at her as he lifted her up, he placed her down on the chair he was just in.

"_I will finish it later, its stable enough now so that you won't feel any pain."_

He shook his head,

"_Do not worry about me…I am fine…I thank you Sakura."_

She smiled at him as she again became engulfed in the darkness of sleep. Suigetsu stood up and exclaimed,

"_I will make her some food, I know how to boost her chakra level…"_

As he walked to the kitchen. Kabuto stood motioning towards Karin, she nodded at him while she stood up,

"_I think we need to get her some more cloths and stuff, if she is going to stay here she will need more than one outfit…Sasuke will you help me?"_

She smiled sweetly at him, he was not going to until Kabuto exclaimed,

"_She is alright Sasuke, she just needs rest. She'll wake up soon."_

Sasuke just looked at Kabuto as Karin grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door. Kabuto exclaimed,

"_Jugo will you get her some blankets, and watch her until I get back."_

Jugo nodded but before he could ask where he was going he had already vanished.

Meanwhile Pakku stopped short in an abandoned field. Everyone stopping behind him.

"_Why are we stopping? I don't see Sakura anywhere?"_

Naruto blurted. Kakashi sighed as he questioned,

"_What is the matter Pakku?"_

Pakku simply looked up at him,

"_I do not believe she is with the Akatskui anymore…"_

Kakashi was confused,

"_What do you mean who has her?"_

Before Pakku could answer Gaara replied,

"_That kid from your team, the one with the attitude, he has a new team now, they have her."_

Pakku stared at Gaara,

"_How did you know that?"_

Gaara held out his palm to reveal some sand. Pakku just stared at him like he was crazy. Kakashi chuckled slightly as he remembered when Sakura came to practice one day with a sand bracelet. He had asked her what it was for and she told him that Gaara had made it for her so that any time she was in trouble he would know. Kakashi smiled and exclaimed,

"_That bracelet…what does it do that makes you know this?"_

Gaara turned to him and replied,

"_It tells me if she is hurt, which she has been but she is safe now. It also senses chakra and tells me if it is a treat or not. The akatskui's was a lot stronger and more dangerous to her, but this one I have seen before, I know that it is not a treat, but I am not sure for how long it will remain that way, nor do I know the other four chakra levels."_

Kakashi nodded while adding.

"_Alright Pakku continue…we still need to find her before the Akaskui get her again."_

Pakku nodded and continued with everyone behind him.

Kabuto reappeared in a dark room. He knelt before a giant chair,

"_My Lord…"_

Was all he managed to say when the man raised his hand to silence him,

"_So this is the infamous Sakura Haruno? I do believe she will prove to be quite useful, I should study her, seal her, so that she will stay…"_

Kabuto rose slightly,

"_I don't believe that will be necessary my Lord."_

The man was about to question his decision when Kabuto exclaimed,

"_I believe that she has everything Lord Orochimaru, she shares the same hatred for Itachi as Sasuke does, she has been hurt by Kisame like Suigetsu but she possesses knowledge which he does not about how to heal Kisame's poison, she does not love Sasuke, which has made Karin happy, and she possesses a motherly touch which I believe will tame Jugo….she is perfect my Lord."_

Orochimaru smirked while questioning,

"_And what does she have that attracts you my dear Kabuto?"_

He smiled up at Orochimaru but didn't say anything. Orochimaru chuckled and added,

"_I am to assume everything yes?"_

Kabuto just nodded. Orochimaru sighed and added,

"_Well as long as you can control her, keep her here I will not seal her. But I do wish to know why you are so infatuated with this girl."_

Kabuto smiled slightly and replied,

"_In time my Lord. In time you will know."_


	20. Reunited

Chapter 20

Reunited

Kabuto returned to the house to see that Juugo, Suigetsu, and Sakura all sat around the table. Both Juugo and Suigetsu simply sat there and stared at the girl. She stood up slightly to put her dish away but Juugo pushed her down softly while Suigetsu took her bowl. Annoyance clearly plastered on her face,

"_I can walk two steps to put a bowl in the sink guys…"_

They were both fascinated with this little kunoichi. Kabuto smiled slightly before making his presence known. Sakura just looked up at him and exclaimed,

"_What now? Am I going to be able to move or anything?"_

He just laughed at her, she was so stir crazy, he loved her get up and go attitude. He exclaimed,

"_Well when Karin and Sasuke come back we will go over our next course of action…"_

He was interrupted by the opening of the door, Sakura just smiled at the awesome timing. Karin smiled at the girl,

"_You're awake! How are you feeling?"_

Sakura groaned,

"_Board..."_

Sasuke smirked at the girl,

"_Same as always huh Sakura?"_

She just stared at him,

"_Not really Sasuke."_

Kabuto cleared his throat, only to have everyone stare at him. He motioned for them to sit down.

"_I have received orders to go back and face the akatskui…"_

He looked pointly at Sakura and asked,

"_Will you be up to this?"_

She simply nodded. He exclaimed,

"_Alright we are going to head out tonight, beat them there by morning."_

They all got up and gathered their things and headed out.

They were about a few hours away from the space where they had met before and decided to set up camp. Everyone went to bed, except Juugo, he was put on the lookout. Sakura plopped down on the grass, lying on her back she looked up at the stars. She smiled to herself,

'_I know you're out there…don't worry I am ok…I miss you so much…'_

She thought to herself as tears swelled up in her eyes.

"_Sakura…"_

Juugo called to her, she didn't want to get up, she didn't want to do anything, she just wanted to go home. She missed everyone so much. Juugo walked over to her, She closed her eyes tightly not wanting to cry, never mind in front of someone. He simply sat beside her and looked down at her. She wasn't going to open her eyes until she was alone. She wasn't going to cry in front of anyone, but she couldn't take it anymore, she missed him so much, she just wanted to feel his arms around her, squeezing her tightly reassuring her that everything was going to be ok and that he would be with her forever. Her memories were getting to her, she laid there besides Juugo, eyes closed. She was started to shake, she was crying without even with her eyes closed. She sniffled as she put her hands on her face, she was shaking uncontrollably, she started breathing heavy, sobbing. Juugo lifted her up, taking her in his arms he held her. He wrapped his arms around her squeezing her slightly, she slowly started to calm down. Before he had a chance to ask her what was wrong she exclaimed,

"_Sorry…I'm s-sorry…"_

Her sobs died down as she relaxed. He kept his arms around her rubbing her back lightly until she was completely relaxed. He asked,

"_What is on your mind Sakura?"_

She slouched slightly while adding,

"_I just miss everyone…I wish I could go home…"_

He just looked down at her, just thinking of what she said.

"_I met the most remarkable man that I have ever met in my life, he is amazing. He has opened my eyes to so many things, he helped me, he helped me get over my fears, he helped me with everything. He made me feel like I belong, he made me know what it's like to have a family again. I love him…"_

She started sobbing again. He embraced her again. She eventually cried herself to sleep.

The next morning Sakura woke up early. She looked around everyone was sleeping, even Juugo fell asleep holding her. She smiled down at him as she stood up. She stretched as she walked over to the leftover campfire, she searched for something to drink. She was looking through her bag, dammit she didn't bring her water. She was just rustling through everything trying to find a drink when a person cleared their throat behind her. She turned around quickly finding Kabuto holding a cup. She just looked at him as he offered it to her. She smiled as she took it. He smiled at her and asked,

"_How'd you sleep?"_

She shrugged,

"_alright…yourself?_

"_Can't complain…"_

He was about to say something else when Karin walked over

"_Good morning everybody!"_

As she said that Suigetsu growled as he sat up.

"_Are you serious? You can never let anybody sleep past you!"_

She just smirked at him. Sakura just smiled, trying not to laugh. Sasuke stood up, rolling up his blankets he looked at her, winked, and smiled. She just rolled her eyes, turned back to Kabuto,

"_are they close?"_

Before he could answer Suigetsu replied,

"_I can sense them, not too far away, we got to get going."_

Sakura nodded as she started helping pack up everything. Kabuto smiled at her,

'_she really does have that motherly instinct.'_

They all started to head out. About an hour they reached the place where they met them before and just waited. Kabuto kept Sakura close to him. Suigetsu exclaimed,

"_They are only a few minutes away…"_

Sakura tensed up as the bushes parted. Hidan was the first to step out. Sakura's breath caught in her throat. Kabuto stepped beside her. Itachi was next along with Kisame, Sasori, and Deidara. Sakura just looked at the ground. Hidan looked pointly at Sakura and exclaimed,

"_Miss Haruno I do believe that you need to come back now."_

Kabuto chuckled but didn't say anything. Hidan pretended not to notice him as he offered Sakura his hand. Sakura just stared at him, she knew that something was about to happen, she knew she should just go with them and prevent herself from future harm, she stepped forward only to have Juugo step in front of her. She just looked up at him, he turned around and put his hands on her shoulders, lent down and whispered,

"_If you go back with them you won't be able to see him again…"_

She gasped as she looked up at him, he remembered, the night before. Kabuto was confused as he overheard the conversation. Sakura just stared at him, he smiled the cutest little kid smile she had ever seen, he reminded her of Naruto. She reached up and held his face,

'_thank you'_

She mouthed to him. He just smiled at him, stepping back next to her on the other side of Kabuto. Kabuto just looked at him, he was so confused. Sakura smiled and answered,

"_I don't think I do though."_

Hidan simply shook his head,

"_Such a shame…Kisame…"_

She instantly tensed up. He smirked and questioned,

"_arm still hurt? Didn't learn enough from the last time?"_

He stepped forward and whipped out his sword, Suigetsu stepped in front of Sakura, he glared at Kisameand exclaimed,

"_I have been waiting for this for quite a long time…that sword will be mine…"_

As he attacked Kisame. Itachi stepped out,

"_Sakura that is enough. Get over here!"_

He yelled, she flinched but didn't move. He activated his sharingan,

"_fire style: fire ball justu!"_

Kabuto grabbed Sakura and jumped to a tree as Sasuke returned the fire ball right back to him. Juugo started towards Deidara, Karin to Sasori. The only people left were Hidan, Kabuto, and Sakura. Hidan was pissed, it was very easy to tell. Sakura stood beside Kabuto,

"_You need to look out for him, I have not seen his powers yet."_

She told Kabuto quietly, he simply smirked,

"_You under estimate me Sakura…"_

Hidan walked slowly towards them, Kabuto stepped in front of her and exclaimed,

"_You're alright, I won't let him get to you."_

She just looked at the back of his head,

'_Why does he care? What does he want me for?'_

The bushes started to move again, Sakura grabbed Kabuto's shirt and pointed towards the bushes. He noticed and he took out a kunai, Hidan turned and focused his attention on where they were looking at. The bushes quickly separated as a flash of brown appeared, Kabuto threw the kunai. The flash of brown appeared behind him and Sakura. She turned around quickly,

"_PAKKU!"_

She exclaimed loudly, she was so excited she forgot about everything and picked up the pooch. He just licked her face. She was so excited, she turned back around as she saw the bushes rustle again only to reveal Naruto, Kakashi, Kankuro, and Temari. She kept staring,

'_where is he?'_

She looked between Temari and Kankuro. It seemed like time stopped as she just stared at them, all of a sudden a bolt of sand came from the other bush and knocked out Hidan while another one took out Kabuto. Sakura nearly dropped Pakku as she jumped with excitement. Gaara appeared from behind the bush along with Baki. She had the biggest smile plastered on her face. Their eyes met and a smile appeared on his face. She placed Pakku on the ground and ran, she ran as fast as she could to him. Kisame almost grabbed her but Naruto quickly knocked him out of the way with his rasengan. Sakura ran and jumped into Gaara's arms. He held her so tight to himself, she lifted her head to face him.

"_I knew you'd find me! I knew you wouldn't forget me!"_

She was interrupted as a pair of lips crashed against her own. She kissed him with as much force as she could possibly muster. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up. Tears were flowing freely down her face, she was so happy she completely forgot everything. Itachi growled at them,

"_HEY! SAND NIN!"_

Gaara departed his lips from hers and smiled down at her,

"_I will be right back…and when I get back I have a question for you."_

She smiled up at him as he brushed his hand against her cheek. Gaara walked in front of Itachi and just smirked.

"_I am going to enjoy killing you.."_


	21. Sharingan

Chapter 21

Sharingan

Itachi and Gaara stood mere feet away from each other. Itachi just smirked,

"_I'd like to see you try."_

Naruto stood next to Kakashi whining,

"_Man I wanna get some action…"_

Kakashi just shook his head while activating his sharingan, he wanted to memorize every movement of Itachi's. All of a sudden Hidan appeared between them,

"_ENOUGH!"_

He exclaimed forcefully. Itachi opened his mouth to protest which Hidan shut down with a wave of his hand. He looked over at Sakura,

"_Do you really want to see everyone here die? This entire thing can come to an end here and now if you come with us."_

Sakura looked between Hidan and Gaara. She smiled sweetly at Gaara, stepping forward and standing next to him. She took his hand in hers, he smiled down at her then looked back to Hidan,

"_You took her from me once, you will not have another chance."_

Hidan shook his head,

"_Itachi, do not hurt her, but kill the boy…"_

As he disappeared. Itachi smirked as he glared at Gaara. He wiped a few kunai at him. Gaara quickly grabbed Sakura and moved her away. He gently placed her down, he kissed her while adding,

"_I'll be right back."_

He turned back to Itachi, without missing a beat he whipped his sand at him. Hitting him with blow after blow of sand. No one wanted to sit around and watch, they all wanted a piece of the action. Sasori readied his puppets, which Kankuro was glad to do the same. Suigetsu, Karin, and Sasuke teamed up at take on Kisame, as he seemed like the biggest threat. Kakashi along with Baki ran at Deidara. Temari stood alongside Kankuro. Naruto felt left out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kabuto slowly stand up, Juugo was at his side in a flash. Naruto smiled to himself as he ran at them right past Sakura. She looked towards his direction noting where he was going she yelled,

"_No Naruto don't!"_

Which of course he didn't listen. Juugo heard though and instantly got in a defense stance. Sakura focused her chakra into her feet and ran to them, she appeared in front of them, smashing her chakra infused fist to the ground

"_Earth style!"_

She yelled as beams of earth grabbed hold of Naruto's feet, stopping him in his tracks. Juugo instantly moved himself between the two. Kabuto stood completely shocked, he was standing behind a crouched down Sakura and a defensive Juugo. Naruto stood stuck in this spot staring at this giant man in front of him,

"_What the hell? Get out of my way!"_

Naurto yelled, Juugo simply growled down at the boy in front of him only to be stopped by a soft hand to his back,

"_It's alright."_

Sakura's voice soothed, his eyes still locked on Naruto's he stepped to the side. Sakura stood up fully releasing Naruto's feet causing him to fall to the ground. Sakura knelt in front of him helping him up,

"_Leave them Naruto, they got me away from the akatskui."_

She nearly whispered, only Naruto heard her, he grumbled and nodded. Just as he did this Temari was sent flying through the air, smashing into a rock. Sakura ran to her aid as Naruto ran to Kankuro. Temari was not badly injured, Sakura quickly healed her. Temari thanked her and rushed back in within seconds. Sakura stood up and turned around to go and heal Kabuto only to see Hidan.

"_Sakura my dear this is getting ridiculous…lets go."_

Sakura shook her head,

"_You took everything from me…my friends…my family…my life….and I never had a say in it what so ever, but that's over now. I am not going to sit here and have you destroy the only life that I have ever known, the only people who are still here for me…it's not gonna happen…"_

She got in a battle stance, closing her eyes focusing everything she had into this one man. This one fight would determine her entire future, she was going to have a say in it, she was going to make him and every person in the akastskui suffer for what they did to her. Here and now she was going to kill every single one of them. Starting with Hidan.

Without saying a word she focused her chakra into her fist and brought it to the ground, smashing it to pieces, with Hidan losing balance she focused her chakra into her feet, running as fast as she could to him. Once she was in front of him she brought her foot to his face, sending him flying backwards. Sakura knew that he was still a lot more powerful than she was, but she didn't care, she would kill him or die trying.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, they were completely memorized by Sakura's intent to kill. She saw Hidan rise to his feet, she made hand signs as fast as she could,

"_Fire style: fire ball justu!"_

She yelled as she blew a giant fire ball at him, watching as it engulfed him. She smirked to herself, that was easy. All of a sudden she felt a chakra presence behind her, she turned only to be met with a hard punch to the face. She fell backwards, dammit how could she have been that stupid this was the akaskui she was dealing with, they killed her entire family, she should have known better than to under estimate them. She caught herself before hitting the ground,

"_Sakura you are strong…but I am stronger…I don't want to kill you…"_

Sakura wasn't going to listen to him, she smashed her fist into the ground again, instead making beams of earth go in each and every direction, pounding into Hidan. Itachi moved to assist him but Gaara instantly grabbed hold of him,

"_Sand prison!"_

Sakura wasn't even paying attention, she was purely focused on killing the man in front of her. She had never been so angry in her life, so blood thirsty, she felt herself get more powerful than ever before, her body started to shake, everything was starting to blur, she put her hands to her head, trying to focus but feeling unable. She screamed at the top of her lungs while ripping her hands away from her face and opening her eyes wide to reveal a mixture of red and green. Kabuto stared at her a smile plastered on his face,

'_It's happening, she's activated her powers…her mixed sharingan'_

Everyone stared on in disbelief,

"_This is impossible…"_

Kakashi exclaimed. Wind was whipping around Sakura so fast no one could really focus. She ran at Hidan as fast as she could, throwing him across the field smashing into a tree, but she didn't stop there she was at his side in a second. Smashing him in the other direction. This went on for at least 15 minutes. Sakura was starting to get tired, she slowed down a considerable amount, breathing heavy. Kisame ran at her along with Itachi, Kabuto and Juugo ran to her aid. Juugo stood in front of her, knocking Kisame to the ground while Kabuto threw a kunai at Itachi, striking him in the gut. All of a sudden a giant burst of smoke exploded in front of them, clearing to reveal,

"_My lord…"_

Kabuto exclaimed as he bowed respectfully. Before anyone had time to react Orochimaru threw Itachi and Kisame across the field. Grabbing Sakura in his arms he whisked his team away in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi stared on in shock,

"_Not good…"_


	22. Jealousy

Chapter 22

Jealousy

Appearing in a dark cave Sakura had calmed down and weakened significantly. Orochimaru placed her down thinking she could stand on her own and walked over to his chair and sat down. Sakura was so tired she could barely stand. Juugo walked over to her and held her up.

"_She doesn't look so good…"_

Karin exclaimed. Orochimaru ignored her,

"_Everyone out I need to speak with Sakura and Kabuto."_

No one objected but Juugo looked up questioning, he was very weary of letting Sakura go in fear she may collapse. Kabuto walked over to him,

"_I got her…"_

He stood behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her close to him. Juugo nodded and left. Orochimaru chuckled while a smirk filtered to his face.

"_I see what about her caught your eye, you two would produce powerful offspring."_

Kabuto smiled and nodded,

"_I knew you would approve…"_

"_However…"_

Orochimaru interrupted,

"_Her and Sasuke's sharingan should mix well together. Producing even more power."_

Kabuto's grip got tighter around Sakura's waist, causing her to gasp slightly in her nearly unconscious state, as anger flashed to his eyes. Orochimaru chuckled,

"_Relax my dear Kabuto, relax. I know that she hates Sasuke, but also she was very protective of you today, against her own teammate. That shows a lot. Move her into your room tonight. She looks unconscious already. Tomorrow I will call for her, after I will call for you."_

Kabuto nodded as he picked Sakura up bridal style and carried her back to the house. She hadn't heard a thing, she just felt herself being picked up. She nudged her head into his chest while holding onto his shirt, he eyes fluttered closed. He smiled down at her, as he held her closer. As he walked into the house everyone looked up to see them. Sasuke stood up and was about to approach them,

"_I'll take her to bed now…"_

Kabuto clutched Sakura and smiled,

"_I've got her. Lord Orochimaru said that she will be residing in my quarters."_

Sasuke's face twisted in anger,

"_What?"_

He yelled. Sakura stirred slightly in his arms, Kabuto glanced down at the girl in his arms then glared back at Sasuke. He walked towards his room when Sasuke stepped in his way,

"_You are not taking her!"_

He yelled again. Kabuto got in his face in a heartbeat.

"_You listen to me boy, you forget that I am superior to you, don't you dare raise your voice to me!"_

He snarled at the boy. Sasuke was beyond pissed, this was going to get ugly. Suigetsu and Karin pulled Sasuke back as Juugo maneuvered himself between them.

"_That's enough Sasuke."_

Suigetsu grumbled.

"_She needs to rest, there's no use bickering about it now. I'll stay in your room tonight, come on."_

Karin replied. Sasuke didn't move an inch he simply glared at Kabuto, as if he could see him through Juugo. Sasuke blinked, snarled, and walked away. He was going to have a word with Orochimaruo. Kabuto walked her to his room, Juugo and Karin followed and stood at the door as Suigetsu ran after Sasuke. Kabuto gently placed her down on the bed. Feeling that she was falling, she clung to his shirt. He smiled down at her, he whispered,

"_I'm not going anywhere Sakura."_

Her grip on his shirt did not lessen as her eyes closed, she looked like she was completely out cold. He placed his hand on hers to remove her hold on him, her breath quickened, she started whining,

"_Don't…"_

She cried as she gripped his hand,

"_Gaara don't leave me…"_

She cried. A single tear streamed down her cheek.

"_Who's that?"_

Karin questioned, Kabuto turned to the door,

"_Leave us!"_

He ordered harshly. Karin and Juugo turned and shut the door behind them. Kabuto's face softened, he took Sakura's hand in his and whispered,

"_He is already gone sweetheart…"_

Sakura starting hyperventilating, crying hard, basically unconscious. Kabuto laid down next to her,

"_I will never leave you."_

He soothed in her ear over and over.

"_I will stay with you."_

He cooed. She relaxed and turned herself on her other side to face him.

"_Forever?"_

He questioned, so quietly, so softly, so sweetly, pure innocence, she was at his disposal. He smiled at her,

"_Forever."_

He replied as he kissed her forehead softly. She snuggled close to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she finally fell asleep. Back outside Karin asked quietly,

"_Who's Gaara?"_

Juugo frowned as he recalled Sakura's melt down the night before,

"_he's that sand nin."_

Juugo replied flatly.

"_Ooooh…the one she kissed…"_

Karin exclaimed.

"_She loves him."_

Juugo replied.

"_How do you know?"_

Karin questioned.

"_Last night Sakura had a complete emotional melt down. She misses this Gaara a lot, she loves him more than anything, she would give up her life for his safety…"_

He continued for a while on what Sakura said the night before. Karin smiled,

'_I've got it! A way to keep Sasuke to myself.'_

"_Will you help me help her get back to him?"_

Karin questioned. Juugo nodded,

"_I'd do anything to help her."_

Karin smiled,

"_Alright good…I've got a plan…"_


	23. Plan Revealed

Chapter 23

Plan Revealed

The next morning Sakura grumbled at the cold. She turned over hoping to gather up more covers but found the presence of another body. She opened her eyes slowly afraid of what she might find. Kabuto smiled down at her

"_Good morning my dear…how did you sleep?"_

Sakura closed her eyes and mumbles something, she couldn't even understand herself. She pulled the covers she had on top of her and curled herself up.

"_cold…"_

Was the only thing she said which he could understand. He smiled at her, putting his arms around her he pulled her closer to him. She was shocked and was about to protest until she felt the heat from his body. Instead of pushing him away she pulled him closer shuttering slightly relishing how cold she really was. She didn't remember anything from the night before, she just felt very tired.

"_How are you feeling?"_

He questioned softly only to find that she had fallen asleep again. He smiled, kissed her head, and closed his eyes.

Karin and Juugo sat up all night discussing their plan, upon deciding what to do they passed out. Sakura woke up again to find that she was alone, she sat up, adjusting to the room around her, it was light blue. It was quite calming-like the water. She smiled as she stood up and walked out into the living room to find Juugo asleep on the couch outside the room. She smiled down at him. He had become one of her close friends. She walked into the kitchen, she was starved. She started cooking anything she could find. The smell filled the cabin waking the sleeping Juugo. He smiled as he walked into the kitchen to find the petite pink haired kunoichi. She turned around and smiled up at him,

"_hungry?"_

She questioned as she placed a plate of food on the table and picked off of it. He sat down at the table, very quiet. She could tell that something was wrong but she didn't want to pry. She sat across from him as he whispered,

"_I'm going to get you out of here…"_

Sakura flashed her full attention up at him, he looked at her softly,

"_I know what it's like to love someone and be taken away from them, I don't want you to go through the same thing…"_

"_Come with me.."_

Sakura interrupted, Juugo stopped and stared at her,

"_I know you're not like the others…your kind…Come with me, I promise you life will be better than being here. Besides if you stay here they will find out that you helped me and they will kill you."_

He frowned and nodded,

"_That's what is going to happen. No matter if I'm here or there…I will be dead sooner or later."_

Sakura cut him off,

"_No."_

She took his hand in hers,

"_if you come with me we will protect each other…"_

He looked down at her soft hand on his.

"_Promise me…promise me you'll come with me…I won't leave knowing that you will be killed because of it"_

She stated flatly, he simply nodded in response.

"_Okay."_

With that the front door slammed open revealing one seriously pissed off Sasuke. Instead of looking in the kitchen he burst into Kabuto's room, getting more pissed that no one was in there. Sasuke walked around the house with Suigetsu following him,

"_Relax Sasuke I'm sure she's ok…"_

Sasuke completely ignored him. Juugo and Sakura got up with the noise and walked into the kitchen doorway. Sakura questioned,

"_What's the matter?"_

Sasuke stopped at hearing the soft spoken voice, he turned to see her. His anger vanished as he saw her-and not with Kabuto. He smiled softly at her,

"_nothing…"_

He answered quietly. She smiled sweetly at them and Suigetsu then replied,

"_Well then come eat you guys…"_

She turned back and walked into the kitchen. Sasuke followed, staring intensely at her,

"_Did he do anything to you?"_

He questioned. Sakura turned to him, knowing what he meant.

"_Well I don't remember anything from last night but I am still wearing the same thing I had on yesterday…I'm taking that as a no."_

His face softened slightly. She turned to the stove picking up some food and putting it on two plates, she turned back and placed them in front of Sasuke and Suigetsu. Sasuke looked up at her just to see her smile,

"_I'm alright Sasuke I promise…don't worry about me."_

She soothed. He nodded as he started eating. Karin emerged from the bathroom, stretching her arms in the air,

"_Something smells good!"_

She exclaimed loudly so that everyone could hear. Sakura exclaimed

"_Finally! I've been waiting to take a shower!"_

Karin smiled,

"_Sorry, not used to having another girl in the house. But hey before you shower you'll need some more cloths, come Sasuke and I bought you some the other day…and you'll need some amazing smelling soap."_

Sakura smiled at the girl, she had been dyeing for some girly things, like soap. Sakura followed Karin into her room, Karin handed her some cloths, which Sakura gladly accepted.

In the kitchen Sasuke looked over at Juugo who was staring at his hand. Sakura walked pasted everyone and walked into the bathroom. Sasuke lent over the table

"_What were you two talking about?"_

Juugo looked up at him, clearly he did not hear the question,

"_Huh?"_

"_How is she..okay?"_

Sasuke asked, Juugo simply nodded, he knew that he wasn't going to be able to fool Sasuke, he thought for a moment,

"_She doesn't like Kabuto, she was upset that she had to stay in his room last night. And she has a lot of anger towards your brother and his brood…especially Kisame."_

Sasuke smirked,

"_All the more reason why I want her."_

Juugo smiled slightly at his comment knowing that he wouldn't get her.

"_She wants to kill him, she told me her plan but she got so anxious about Kabuto stepping in and stopping her, she feels that he has some sort of alliance with them, she was so anxious that she started cooking like a mad woman…"_

He stated as he pointed to the stacks of food next to the stove. Sasuke smirked,

"_She's done that before, usually Naruto would be able to finish everything off…"_

"_Well they won't go to waste…"_

Suigetsu exclaimed as he attacked the plates of food. Karin emerged from her room and sat beside Sasuke,

"_ooo…looks good."_

as she started picking off his plate. Sasuke didn't even notice her as he and Juugo talked more about Sakura's 'Plan.' Sakura finally came out of the bathroom about an hour later wearing baggy black pants and a tight pink tank top. She walked into Kabuto's room with her dirty clothes to put them away, she tossed them to the floor as she noticed the bed was unmade. Her OCD kicked in as she started to make the bed. She moved the pillows to the floor as she lifted the blankets and smoothed them out. As she turned to pick up the pillows she bumped into Sasuke. She giggled nervously,

"_Oh…sorry Sasuke I didn't see you…"_

As she picked up the pillows and placed them on the bed, before she could question him as to why he was there he exclaimed,

"_Juugo told me your plan…"_

She stopped short and stared at him,

"_What? What did he say?"_

She gulped as he walked towards her, he smirked at just how nervous she was getting, he stood in front of her and stared at her.

"_He told me all about it…"_

He exclaimed as he twirled a stand of her hair next to her face. She got extremely nervous, tears swelled in her eyes,

"_Please don't tell him…Please, he'll try and stop me…Please Sasuke I'm begging you…I'll do…."_

She was interrupted as his lips smashed against hers. She was shocked but more scared, had Juugo betrayed her, had he led her to think that he was going to help her but instead tried to set her up? As Sasuke's lips departed from hers he replied in horse whisper,

"_I think it's a great plan…"_

"_Huh?"_

Was all she managed to get out.

"_I will help you kill Kisame as well as Kabuto but you will have to play along…you will need to continue to act as though you hate me, you will have to fawn over…Kabuto…in order to trick him."_

Sakura blinked,

'_what the hell?'_

She thought. She was so confused, he placed his hand on her face, gently caressing her cheek, he brought his face close to hers,

"_I promise you…you won't be with him, even if Orochimaru commands it…I won't let him take you…our powers…combined…don't you understand Sakura…we could rule!"_

His voice echoed in her ears, what the hell was he talking about, Sakura stood there in shock. She was about to question his sanity when a low growl was heard from the door. Sasuke turned to find Kabuto. Kabuto's eyes flashed to Sakura's only to find the remnants of tears in her eyes, he instantly glared at Sasuke,

"_Sakura my dear would you please excuse us for a moment?"_

Sakura nodded and quickly walked away, just as she was about to leave the room Kabuto grabbed her wrist softly and whispered,

"_Are you okay?"_

She nodded and smiled slightly leaning up to him she whispered,

"_Thank you for your amazing timing…"_

As she gently pecked a kiss to his cheek. Kabuto smirked as he noted Sasuke's hostility level rise. Sakura turned to walk out when Kabuto pulled her back into him and kissed her passionately. He was enjoying the torment this was causing on Sasuke. As their lips departed they were both slightly out of breath, she gasped,

"_I'll wait for you in the kitchen…"_

As she walked out of the room,

'_she took my orders well, she was fawning over him big time.'_

Sasuke thought to himself.

Kabuto sighed,

"_Sasuke…do you not understand Orochimaru's orders? I know that he told you when you were there last night, she is mine."_

He disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke. He exclaimed,

"_and if you even think about going near her again I will kill you!"_

As he twisted Sasuke's arm behind his back, nearly breaking it, Sasuke hissed in pain,

"_Do we understand each other?"_

Sasuke nodded, and with that Kabuto released the grip on his arm, and pushed his out of his room. They both appeared back in the kitchen to find everyone sitting at the table. Kabuto moved over to Sakura, wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her into him, he spun her around resting his chin on her shoulder and exclaimed,

"_We are going to have company…the akatskui are on the move…"_

Everyone stared at him, he smirked and exclaimed,

"_This time will be interesting…"_

Sakura smirked and thought,

'_Oh yes it will be..'_


	24. Manipulation

Chapter 24

Manipulation

"_Orochimaru senses that only two will make themselves known to us while the others hide in the bushes and wait for their chance to strike, I think it wise we do something similar, Sakura and I will meet them on the outskirts while Sasuke takes the rest of you to get the others before they have time to strike. That's our plan."_

Everyone simply nodded at him while getting ready to head out. Sakura slightly pulled away from Kabuto and turned around to face him,

"_Do you know who is going to be there?"_

She questioned him, staring up at him with those innocent eyes. He smiled down at her, gripping her chin in his hand,

"_Don't worry my dear, you will be safe, I will protect you."_

She smiled slightly up at him, although that was not what she meant, it was good to know that he thought she was his, this would be good with her plan. He pulled her face closer to his as he placed a harsh kiss to her lips. She was shocked at first but figured that she could use this to her advantage. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into him, kissing him back. He smirked into her kiss as he departed their lips,

"_Now now my dear…"_

As he placed his hand back on her chin,

"_As much as I would enjoy to continue we do need to be moving out…there will be plenty of time for that later."_

He exclaimed hoarsely with a huge smile on his face. She smiled up at him, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink,

'_I can't believe I am getting so used to doing this to men, first Itachi now him…this is just starting to get weird.'_

He smirked at her pink color, taking it in a different context he lent down beside her ear and whispered,

"_Don't be embarrassed dear, we can continue later, then it will be more comfortable with it, with me…"_

As he took her face in his hands and lightly kissed her forehead. He took her hand in his and they headed out to meet the akatskui.

It didn't take long for them to appear in front of the two people they had been searching for. Peering into the meadow they saw Itachi and Hidan standing on the opposite side of the field. Hidan smirked at the two,

"_You shouldn't have come alone…"_

Kabuto smirked back at the man,

"_You as well…"_

Itachi had his eyes locked on the girl who was attached to the man before him. Sakura stood beside Kabuto with her arm wrapped around his. Kabuto smirked as he noted Itachi's eyes had been glued to the girl beside him. He chuckled slightly, wrapping his arm around her neck he pulled her close to him, lightly kissing her forehead as he watched Itachi's facial expression twist up into a scowl. Kabuto looked down at Sakura and lifted her face up to his and harshly kissed her, waiting for her to kiss him back which of course she did, she would do anything to anger Itachi. She wrapped her arms around Kabuto's neck gently while leaning up and kissing him passionately, closing her eyes making it seem all the more real. Itachi wasn't going to watch this anymore. He snapped.

He charged at them, Kabuto smirked as he saw this at the corner of his eye. He gently pulled Sakura to the side while turning to face Itachi only to have him thrown back into a tree, but he failed to notice Hidan beside him. He reached up in a second and smashed him down into the ground. Hidan turned his attention to Sakura, stepping forward only to be stopped by her smashing her chakra infused fist into the ground,

"_Earth Style!"_

Beams of earth shot up and grabbed Hidan mere steps away from her. Hidan smirked and exclaimed,

"_My dear Sakura I do believe that you have gotten stronger…"_

She smirked slightly at him

"_Yes…I do believe I am…I believe that I know why you wanted me so badly…"_

He nodded at her,

"_Your sharingan is extremely rare, if we had your powers in our clan we could rule Sakura! Especially if you and Itachi's mixed, the two sharingan together! Imagine the unthinkable power which would be produced in your children!"_

Sakura's face twisted in disgust,

"_I would not be with him, with you, with anyone associated with you people! You killed my family! Took everything from me! What in the hell would make you think that I would be with people who took everything that I loved away from me in a moment! I would rather die than disgrace my family's memory with your madness!"_

Hidan smirked and nodded at her, but he wasn't looking at her, rather behind her, she turned to find Itachi mere inches away from her. She gasped slightly as she stepped back, which made her lose control of her justsu, releasing Hidan. Itachi stepped towards her from the front as Hidan approached from the back. Hidan was closer to her he reached out about to grab her when Kabuto threw him across the field, while throwing an exploding kunai at him. Sakura still facing Itachi couldn't manage to get enough chakra into her fist to swing…damn him and his amazing chakra suppressant control. She closed her eyes preparing to be swept away only to open them to find Sasuke standing in front of her and Itachi sprawled on the ground in front of him. Sakura was about to say something when she heard grumbles behind her, she turned only to find the other members of the akastkui had arrived along with Karen, Juugo, and Suigetsu. Sakura just stood there watching everything. She couldn't stand this. She wanted this to end! She was getting more and more angry by the moment, she started shaking. Sasuke turned to see her back shaking uncontroably. He stepped behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, holding her close to him,

"_It's alright Sakura…"_

He whispered in her ear. She hadn't even heard a word which he said, she stepped away from him, focusing everything that she had in her fist, she looked around and saw the one person she didn't want to kill, she ran to him, throwing him on top of a tree as she smashed the ground with everything she had. The ground smashed instantly creating a giant hole. Once she knew that everyone was in it she threw her hands up in the air as blue strands flew from her hands and to all sides of the hole, pulling the hole shut on top of everyone.

She put her hands down and started to relax, her head was so light, she felt the world spin around her. She saw everything go black, she started to fall slightly only to be picked up by a strong pair of arms before she hit the floor. Juugo smiled down at her, picking her up,

'_It's finally over…'_

He thought as he held her in his arms and started to walk away.


	25. Reunited: Together Forever

Chapter 25

Reunited: Together Forever

Juugo walked with Sakura through the forest, going off of the chakra he could sense, he knew he was getting close. Which of course he was…closer then he thought. His thoughts interrupted by a kunai aimed at his face, he quickly dogged it. He was about to say something when one of Sakura's friends held a kunai to his forehead, the man was a leaf village shinobi, not the blonde annoying one, he was older. The man exclaimed,

"_Put Sakura down and be on your way."_

Juugo sighed and exclaimed,

"_She is very weak, I am simply keeping my promise to her…"_

The man pressed the kunai a little harder, only to hear a low grumble, he looked down to see Sakura hold on to Juugo's shirt. The man stepped back slightly,

"_Sakura are you alright?"_

She opened her eyes slightly and nodded,

"_Please don't hurt him Kakashi…"_

Were the last words she spoke before darkness surrounded her.

Kakashi led Juugo into the woods, showing him a small hut. As Juugo walked in behind Kakashi Naruto yelled,

"_What the hell is he doing here? Grab Sakura and kill him!"_

As he whipped out a kunai and threw it towards Juugo. Kakashi stepped in front of him and exclaimed,

"_Sakura has said that he is not to be touched…"_

With that a certain red headed sand nin was in front of Juugo in a seconds notice, grabbing Sakura in his arms he looked into the giant man's eyes,

"_Thank you."_

Was all he said. Juugo smiled and nodded at him as Gaara turned and took Sakura into one of the rooms. He and Temari were in there for a while, rebuilding her chakra, she had used up nearly all of it in that one act of revenge. After Temari had done all she could she sat back down on the floor. She exclaimed,

"_She will be alright Gaara, she has enough chakra to be able to heal herself. She just needs to rest now."_

Gaara nodded as he sat beside her. He reached out cupping her face in his hands, he leaned down and kissed her softly. He made a promise to himself right then and there that he would never lose her. She left the room quietly not wanting to disturb them. About an hour later Gaara was about to pass out while he remembered a conversation which he and Temari had before he reunited with Sakura and fought Itachi, before she was taken from him again.

Temari lead him away from the campsite, she told him that she needed to talk to him about something important. Once they were far enough away from everyone else Temari stopped walking and sat down on the ground motioning for him to sit beside her, which he did. She looked at him and exclaimed,

"_Look Gaara…I know that you don't really understand feelings and everything but I know that you know that you have feelings for Sakura."_

He simply nodded knowing full well that he did, he loved her more than anything he could ever imagine.She smiled at him and he replied,

"_I love her so much Temari…I just don't want to lose her. This time without her nearly killed me, I don't know what I would do without her."_

Temari giggled and replied,

"_Alright then…here's what you can do to keep her with you forever…."_

Baki slowly walked into the room, placing his hand on Gaara's shoulder he exclaimed,

"_Come Gaara you need rest, she will be alright, I will have Kakashi watch her."_

Naruto hadn't stopped glaring at Juugo since he arrived with Sakura, Kakashi was getting annoyed, he tapped Juugo and nodded for him to follow as Baki shot a knowing glance at him. Juugo and Kakashi went into the room and watched the sleeping Sakura.

When she awoke it was at least a few hours later, it was now night. She looked around to find Juugo sitting beside her bed, he was sleeping, but Sakura could careless, she jumped from the bed with a scream. He and Kakashi woke instantly with the scream. She jumped into him, hugging him tightly.

"_Thank you! Thank you Juugo!"_

He smiled as he hugged her back. Kakashi smiled knowing that he must have betrayed his group in order to bring her back. She pulled away from him slightly to see Kakashi, she shrieked again running to her sensei. She jumped at him, he hugged her tightly laughing slightly at how childish she had become in a matter of seconds. All of a sudden the door burst open to revel Naruto. Sakura screamed as she ran to him, hugging him tightly. He was so confused,

"_Uh Hi Sakura…"_

She laughed as she exclaimed,

"_I am so happy to see you!"_

She turned around and saw Baki, she smiled as he did at her. He hugged her briefly as a clearing of the throat coaxed her to look around. She saw Kankuro, he stood with a smirk on his face. She laughed as she turned and hugged him tightly, she laughed as he picked her up and spun her around.

"_You have no idea how long I've had to deal with my brother and his depression in order to find you!"_

As he placed her down on the floor. With that she gasped,

"_Gaara…"_

Kankuro smirked as he tapped her shoulder lightly, taking her out of her trance like state. She looked up at him only to have him point behind her. She turned around to find the man she had been looking for. She smiled the biggest smile she could possibly muster up. She ran to him, faster than she could ever think possible. She jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with everything ounce of herself that she had. He smiled with her and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into him. After a few minutes he departed his lips from hers and exclaimed,

"_Sakura…before anything else happens I want to ask you something…"_

She looked at him confused, he smiled at her as he shot a glance at Temari. She instantly had a huge smile on her face. She nearly fell over she was so excited as to what was about to happen. Gaara took Sakura's hand in his, leaning closely to her he stated,

"_Sakura I love you more than anything I ever imagined in my life. These past few weeks without you have been horrible. I didn't think I would be able to survive without you, and now that you are back here with me I know that I never want to have that feeling again…"_

He pulled something out from his pocket, a black box. He knelt down on one knee still holding her hand, her eyes started to tear up, Gaara asked,

"_Will you marry me?"_

=D

That's it for this half of the book guys! What do you think! Sequal will be out soon? I hope you guys like it! I know a huge cliff hanger but the second book will be amazing! PLEASE REVIEW!


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